Overview

This simple but potent work deals with the passion of Christ in a highly original way. As star witness for the defense, a girl named Mary demands of the judge, "How can you try a man who's been dead for two thousand years?" To which the prosecuting attorney shouts, "Ask the people" and proceeds to probe the subconscious mind of the sullen, defiant girl who has confessed to having a recurrent dream believed to be relevant to the case. In that dream the girl becomes the Virgin Mary, living through the idyllic but bewildering days of her betrothal, the joy and wonder in the manger, and the terrifying times of her son's betrayal and crucifixion. She comes at last to believe and says of her resurrected Lord, "Now, in the Father's house of mansions, He walks the hills of the stars and earth, a living, holy presence." Even if ended there, The People vs. Christ would be a passion play of powerful impact, but in the final scene, the girl is again at the trial and purged by the re-enactment of the dream. The sick and sullen witness stands now transfigured as she speaks the curtain line, which British actress Sylvia Marriott called "the most dynamic curtain line I have ever heard:" "God-like, He walked the earth; His presence now is ma's last hope. In proof of this, I am not who I was, but who I am." Clergy and Hollywood celebrities, attending the premiere, gave a spontaneous ovation. Performed in many cities and on television, this play has received great acclaim from many quarters.