Tragedy of Mariam
- Length
- 2 h 14 min
- Chapters
- 5
- Language
- English
- First published
- 1613
The Tragedy of Mariam (1613) is the first original drama written in English by a woman. Elizabeth Cary drew on Jewish histories by Josephus to create a closet drama (written to be read, rather than performed live) about Mariam, the second wife of Herod the Great. At the beginning of the play, Mariam believes that Herod has been killed by Octavius, and struggles with how to respond. On the one hand, she is relieved, as she is angry with Herod for killing her brother and grandfather. On the other, she knows that he loved her, and she feels caught by her sense of duty as his wife. When Herod unexpectedly returns, Mariam must decide what to do. - Summary by Elizabeth Klett
Cast Mariam: Libby Gohn Alexandra: Caprisha Page Salome/Babas' Second Son/Nuntio/Narrator: Elizabeth Klett Silleus: bala Constabarus: mb Chorus: Alan Mapstone Pheroras: Algy Pug Graphina: Availle Babas' First Son/Silleus' Man: Julia Niedermaier Doris: Kay Hand Ananell/Butler: Todd Sohemus: David Nicol Herod: Bruce Pirie
Audio edited by Elizabeth Klett
Chapters
From LibriVox, read by volunteers and in the public domain. LibriVox page (opens librivox.org), the text (opens wwnorton.com), all files on the Internet Archive (opens archive.org).