No Star Shines Sharper

A Verse Play for Epiphany. Mary's about to be married to Joseph, and not particularly interested in having children. When she "conjures" an angel who tells her she'll bear a child, she's angry, frightened and confused. Imagine one of the three Wise Men: he's dissatisfied with himself, and asks two old friends to pursue a strange star in the East that he believes will lead him to a new enemy, against whom he can prove himself. Imagine Joseph: confused with his wife's news, helpless at the birth, he slowly gives way to the beauty and wonder of this baby. This strikingly contemporary play, written in moving but accessible verse, enters the minds of these characters and others, liberating them from the iconographies where they have been enshrined over the ages. Can be presented during Christmas as a simple reading, or as a full production. Minimal rehearsal required.