What would Mary do in this situation? If you’re a woman who was raised Catholic, you are likely to have asked yourself that question at some point in your life. I definitely did. Many times. We were told that the Virgin Mary was the ultimate woman, the one we were all meant to aspire to. Because she was “pure” and obedient. What kind of message does that give young girls?
Quite a few years ago now, I wrote a 10-minute monologue for a scratch night. In it, a young Virgin Mary was getting cat called by a Roman Centurion on the streets of Jerusalem. She was an ordinary girl who quite fancied the Roman – but felt guilty about it. And, being such a “good Catholic girl”, I felt guilty about writing it. Would the real Mary have felt lust, anger, irritation? But then – why wouldn’t she have done? Wasn’t she human, like the rest of us? Most women in those days acted as if they were obedient and “pure”. Because if they didn’t, they would have suffered severe consequences. As do many women who still live in oppressive cultures around the world today.
I had some readthroughs with actors and directors and developed the monologue into its current dark comedy, which will be staged at Omnibus Theatre from April 2-14.
It tells the story of an actor who attempts to purge the demons of her Catholic childhood by playing a Punk Virgin Mary on stage. In her play, The Pinot Princess, she plays Mary opposite her on-off boyfriend, Joe, who multi-roles all the other parts in her play within this play, including Jesus, Joseph and the Roman Centurion. The overall play also explores the relationship of the two struggling actors off stage.
It is designed to explore rather than offend. It’s not a teenage attempt to stick the finger up at the Church (although the character of Pinot does have a go at that in her play). It’s an attempt to look at the icon of Mary through the lens of modern women. And, hopefully, entertain at the same time.
Written by Lorraine Mullaney, directed by Deirdre Daly and starring Pamela Flanagan and Neal Craig, The Pinot Princess is at Omnibus Theatre from 2-14 April.
