Save this article to read it later.
Find this story in your accountsSaved for Latersection.
Is there a more terrifying, fascinating, weirdly appealing time in the occidental imagination than the Middle Ages?
But oh, those castles, those pointy hats, those sleeves!
Heres where I admit that I would immediately binge a spin-off series devoted to Abraham and Ephraim.
Perkins and Chavez-Richmond are delivering absolutely winning performances, expertly walking the line between buffoonery and poignancy.
Actually, theyre not walking it so much as scooting adorably along it.
God, its me.
Ephraim, the hermit?
I just wanted to confirm you didnt forget who I was?
Another person got betrothed to you today!
I prayed on my knees.
His love never ends.
Oh, Jesus, Jesus.
(The word makes 217 appearances in the script.)
Cracking a wide, shy smile, the soldier (the appealingly self-possessed Kai Heath) compliments Abrahams tonsure.
We all have it, blushes Abraham.
The soldier grins: Well youre wearing it especially well.
… Like my parents used to!
What we know is happening: A 12-year-old is being forced into sex with dozens (hundreds?)
of men, for years.
The tone feels like a choice driven solely by the desire to defy a narrative of trauma.
Showing Mary hurt or abused or used is not the plays mission showing herget hersis.
But what does Mary get, exactly?
Especially if that someone doesnt have much dimension.
Both on the page and in the flesh, shes unbreakable to the point of woodenness.
Theres something devious about empowerment stories.
When they and Chavez-Richmond take the stage, the play, like a medieval manuscript, is illuminated.
Mary Gets Hersis at the Robert W. Wilson MCC Theater Space through October 14.
