1 performer · 80 minutes
Heretic: The Mary Dyer Story
Previously Mary’s Joy and The Joy
Synopsis
In a Boston jail cell on the day before her execution, the Quaker martyr Mary Dyer relives loss, motherhood, religious persecution, and the choices that led her to defy Massachusetts law for freedom of conscience.
At a glance
What a producer needs firstCast
1 performer
Running time
80 minutes
Genre
Solo historical drama
Technical demand
Minimal
Availability
Script on requestLicensed through Upstage Left Press
Characters
1 performer to cast
Mary Dyer
Hanged in Boston on 1 June 1660 for being a Quaker.
Also embodied
William Dyer, Anne Hutchinson, and Roger Williams appear briefly through the same performer.
Staging and technical requirementsMinimal
A bare stage with minimal practical elements: a stool, a lantern effect, a water basin, and simple costume pieces. Lighting and sound carry the atmosphere. No walls, platforms, or flats are needed.
What you will need
- A company of 1 performer
- A slot of 80 minutes
- Technical capacity described as minimal
- A performance licence, granted separately from the script
Themes
What it is really aboutI write plays to entertain in the truest sense of the word: to give serious attention to people, questions, and histories that are too often pushed aside.Jeanmarie Simpson, artist statement
In the classroom
The clearest civics text in the repertoire. Colonial history, the establishment of religious liberty, and the cost of conscience, in one hour with no set. Jeanmarie performed it for eight years and can speak to it directly in a guest discussion.
From the archive
Select any photograph to enlarge
Performance rights
Stage it
Rights are available for universities, schools, community theatres, festivals, workshops, staged readings, and independent productions.
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