Contemporary Relevance
In a world often fractured by religious and geopolitical borders, this work asks: What happens when the sacred story is no longer a tool of exclusion, but a mirror for every woman's struggle? By centering the modern American experience alongside Mary and the Divine, we elevate the mundane passions of today—the labor of care, the craving for justice, and the search for the sacred within the body—to the status of the holy.
the Three voices
The Modern-Day American Woman gives voice to the everyday by grappling with modern anxieties, the search for meaning, mental health, and disillusionment. All mirroring the despair found at the foot of the cross. She is a proxy for the audience linking the ancient story in contemporary struggles, making the themes of suffering and redemption tangible. Her voice bridges the gap between the crucifixion and modern issues like environmental destruction and social inequities, framing the passion as a craving for justice.
Mary Mother of Jesus represents motherhood as resistance. Mary’s ‘yes’ to God is portrayed not as passive submission, but as a courageous, autonomous choice that sets the entire narrative in motion. Her presence at the foot of the Cross represents standing firm in solidarity with the oppressed, a powerful model for modern social activism. Mary is the embodiment of enduring love and empathy. She is the devoted woman whose mother's heart breaks, providing a perspective on raw, human grief in the midst of a devastating reality. She moves from being a grieving mother to an angry philosopher. She identifies God as 'the best of what we are’ and states 'We can kill God both in our world and in our souls.’ Unlike the silent suffering historic depictions, she is a fierce woman who grieves, wrestles and evolves in her own humanity.
Mother Wisdom is the Feminine Voice of God. This perspective directly addresses the need for more inclusive, gender-balanced language for God in theology, challenging traditional patriarchal narratives. Mother Wisdom is the antidote to the image of a distant, celestial monarch and incarnates as ‘the ground beneath our feet.’ Her language anchors the Passion in the idea that God is within the material world. She is also the 'love set free by your meeting'—a radical statement that the divine is an active force generated by human connection and the 'coming together' of the women on stage. Mother Wisdom’s ever present counsel within the play is a call to embrace wisdom by providing a metaphysical mirror that shifts external conflicts into self-examination.
Take your walking stick and go out into the world shining. Wherever you walk the people will find peace. I will draw lines on your face to make it soft. I will make my gentleness a pool in your eyes. I will make your hands strong. Do what is needed. Do what you can. Let your work flow like breathing. You are fashioning a world. — Mother Wisdom