WEST COAST PREMIERE
by Nancy Keystone
Created in collaboration with Critical Mass Performance Group

In a mythical fifth-grade classroom, indoctrination explodes into fantasy and rebellion in Nancy Keystone and Critical Mass Performance Group’s form-busting and exuberantly theatrical West Coast Premiere. Mariology explores the Virgin Mary both as a source of faith and a weapon of control, illuminating Mary’s roles in systems of gender, power, and personal agency.

Amir Levi*…………..Ensemble (Mary Amir)
Fran de Leon*………..Ensemble (Mary Frances)
Gabriela Bonet……….Ensemble (Mary Gabriela)
Lorne Green………….Ensemble (Mary Lorne)
Russell Edge*………..Ensemble (Mary Russell)
Valerie Spencer*……..Ensemble (Mary Valerie)

A NOTE FROM THE DIRECTOR – NANCY KEYSTONE:

Mariology is a constellation of interactive events which deconstructs the icon of the Virgin Mary and explores her contradictory impact–as source of faith and comfort, and weapon of oppression and colonization. It includes live performance, installation, salons, panels, and presentations, offering multiple ways for people to engage the subject; a festival of ideas centered around the live performance.

The road to Mariology began when I and my two siblings were the only Jewish kids in a Catholic elementary school. I was fascinated and mystified by the Virgin Mary—so pure, so good, so pretty. I wanted to be like her. Years later, that image shattered against lived experience, the shards becoming complicated questions and dilemmas which inspire this project:

What is “virginity” and why is it the measure of a woman’s worth? Why have we not had a female President? How did a brown Jewish girl become the bleached-white mother of the Christian God? How was an Indigenous goddess transformed into La Virgen to colonize a nation? Why is Mary the only named female in the Quran? What if Mary said “No.”?

ABOUT NANCY KEYSTONE

Nancy Keystone is a multi-disciplinary theatre and visual artist, and the founding artistic director of Critical Mass Performance Group. She is the ensemble’s chief writer, director, and scenic designer. As a freelance artist she has directed and designed dozens of award-winning theatre productions and opera around the country. Most recently she directed Next To Normal with East West Players (Ovation Award for Best Director of a Musical). And with Cornerstone Theater Company, she wrote and directed an interactive spectacle A Jordan Downs Illumination, created in collaboration with the Watts community. Her work also has been seen at Center Theatre Group, LA Phil, Portland Center Stage, Denver Center Theatre, Georgia Shakespeare Festival, Long Beach Opera, Actors Express, San Francisco Shakespeare Festival. As a visual artist she works in mixed media, and has made several short films. Keystone is the honored recipient of a  Doris Duke Performing Artist Award, a United States Artists Hoi Fellowship, Theatre Communications Group’s Alan Schneider Director Award, and she was named one of LA Times’ “Faces To Watch.” She holds a BA in theatre from UCLA, and an MFA in Directing from Carnegie Mellon. She is on visiting faculty at UCLA, and is a frequent university guest lecturer.

ABOUT CRITICAL MASS PERFORMANCE GROUP

Founded in 1985, Critical Mass Performance Group is a Los Angeles-based, collaborative ensemble. Known for category-busting new works, exuberant theatricality, and electrifying collisions of ideas, CMPG was named 2013’s Best Theatre Company by the LA Weekly. We believe that sharing stories sows the seeds of empathy, in order to imagine and manifest a just, equitable, and peaceful future.