Agnes of God
Encyclopedia
Agnes of God is a play
by John Pielmeier
which tells the story of a novice
nun
who gives birth and insists that the dead child was the result of a virgin conception. A psychiatrist and the mother superior of the convent
clash during the resulting investigation. The title is a pun on the Latin phrase Agnus Dei (Lamb of God).
The play was adapted for a movie
in 1985, starring Jane Fonda
, Anne Bancroft
and Meg Tilly.
The stage play contains a great deal more dialogue than the film and relies solely on the three main characters: Martha, the Psychiatrist
; the Mother Superior
; and Agnes, the Novice. There are no other characters on stage.
All three roles are considered demanding for the actors playing them. Martha covers the full gamut of emotion during the play, from nurturer to antagonist, from hard nosed court psychiatrist and atheist to faith-searching healer. She is always on stage and has only three small respites from monologues or dialogue while Agnes and the Mother Superior enact flashbacks to events at the convent.
The Mother Superior must expound the possibilities of miracles while recognizing the realities of today's world, of which she is painfully aware. Agnes is a beautiful but tormented soul whose abusive upbringing has affected her ability to think rationally.
The play has enjoyed a revival among Catholic women's groups, who believe it examines important moral and spiritual issues that Catholic women must face. The issues raised by the real-life incident are just as compelling, though less dramatic.
, just outside the city line of Rochester
.
Sister Maureen Murphy, a thirty-six year old Montessori teacher, was found bleeding in her room by the other sisters of the convent when she did not come down for meals.
Sister Maureen denied she had given birth; when examined by medical staff, she said she couldn't remember being pregnant. She had covered up the pregnancy by wearing the traditional nun's habit
. The baby was found dead in her small convent room in a waste basket, asphyxiated.
The police found ticket stubs and other information in the nun's convent room indicating that precisely nine months earlier she had traveled out of state to an educational conference. During the trial, the father of the baby was never named. It was never suggested that the nun had been raped by a priest.
At her trial, Sister Maureen waived her right to a jury, and Judge Hyman Maas, a Jew, presided. There was a great deal of controversy about whether a Jewish judge would give a Catholic nun a fair trial. The trial was over in ten days, and Maas found the nun not guilty of all charges by reason of insanity in March 1977. It was reported in several newspapers on March 4, 1977.
The convent where the murder occurred is adjacent to the still-functioning suburban parish and school. The convent is used to house University of Rochester graduate students. The girl's high school, St. Agnes, where some of the nuns taught, is closed.
. The original cast was Elizabeth Ashley
as Dr. Livingstone, Geraldine Page
as Mother Miriam Ruth and Amanda Plummer as Agnes. Plummer received the Tony Award
for Best Featured Actress in a Play
and Page was nominated for Best Actress in a Play
. During the run, Elizabeth Ashley was succeeded in her role by Diahann Carroll and Amanda Plummer by Mia Dillon
, Carrie Fisher
and Maryann Plunkett
.
Lee Remick
played the psychiatrist in the show's pre-Broadway run in Boston and was advertised for the New York run but left the show prior to the New York opening.
. There was also a summer stock production starring Sandy Dennis
, Peggy Cass
and Susan Strasberg
; and a London production starring Susannah York
and Honor Blackman
.
Play (theatre)
A play is a form of literature written by a playwright, usually consisting of scripted dialogue between characters, intended for theatrical performance rather than just reading. There are rare dramatists, notably George Bernard Shaw, who have had little preference whether their plays were performed...
by John Pielmeier
John Pielmeier
John Pielmeier is an American playwright and screenwriter.Born in Altoona, Pennsylvania, Pielmeier earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from the Catholic University of America in 1970 and a Master of Fine Arts degree from Pennsylvania State University in 1978...
which tells the story of a novice
Novice
A novice is a person or creature who is new to a field or activity. The term is most commonly applied in religion and sports.-Buddhism:In many Buddhist orders, a man or woman who intends to take ordination must first become a novice, adopting part of the monastic code indicated in the vinaya and...
nun
Nun
A nun is a woman who has taken vows committing her to live a spiritual life. She may be an ascetic who voluntarily chooses to leave mainstream society and live her life in prayer and contemplation in a monastery or convent...
who gives birth and insists that the dead child was the result of a virgin conception. A psychiatrist and the mother superior of the convent
Convent
A convent is either a community of priests, religious brothers, religious sisters, or nuns, or the building used by the community, particularly in the Roman Catholic Church and in the Anglican Communion...
clash during the resulting investigation. The title is a pun on the Latin phrase Agnus Dei (Lamb of God).
The play was adapted for a movie
Agnes of God (film)
Agnes of God is a 1985 American film starring Jane Fonda, Anne Bancroft and Meg Tilly. It was adapted by John Pielmeier from his own play of the same name, and directed by Norman Jewison. The film was nominated for Academy Awards for Best Actress in a Leading Role , Best Actress in a Supporting...
in 1985, starring Jane Fonda
Jane Fonda
Jane Fonda is an American actress, writer, political activist, former fashion model, and fitness guru. She rose to fame in the 1960s with films such as Barbarella and Cat Ballou. She has won two Academy Awards and received several other movie awards and nominations during more than 50 years as an...
, Anne Bancroft
Anne Bancroft
Anne Bancroft was an American actress associated with the Method acting school, which she had studied under Lee Strasberg....
and Meg Tilly.
The stage play contains a great deal more dialogue than the film and relies solely on the three main characters: Martha, the Psychiatrist
Psychiatrist
A psychiatrist is a physician who specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders. All psychiatrists are trained in diagnostic evaluation and in psychotherapy...
; the Mother Superior
Abbess
An abbess is the female superior, or mother superior, of a community of nuns, often an abbey....
; and Agnes, the Novice. There are no other characters on stage.
All three roles are considered demanding for the actors playing them. Martha covers the full gamut of emotion during the play, from nurturer to antagonist, from hard nosed court psychiatrist and atheist to faith-searching healer. She is always on stage and has only three small respites from monologues or dialogue while Agnes and the Mother Superior enact flashbacks to events at the convent.
The Mother Superior must expound the possibilities of miracles while recognizing the realities of today's world, of which she is painfully aware. Agnes is a beautiful but tormented soul whose abusive upbringing has affected her ability to think rationally.
The play has enjoyed a revival among Catholic women's groups, who believe it examines important moral and spiritual issues that Catholic women must face. The issues raised by the real-life incident are just as compelling, though less dramatic.
Plot
Pielmeier's plot features Sister Agnes, a young and ignorant novice of French ethnicity, molested by her mother as a child, who sings in an ethereal voice and was impregnated by an unknown entity, which makes for much of the mystery of the drama. The psychiatrist Martha Livingston interrogates her and narrates the story.Background
A few years before the play was written, a similar incident occurred in a convent in Brighton, New YorkBrighton, Monroe County, New York
Brighton is a town in Monroe County, New York, USA. The population was 36,609 at the 2010 census.-History:The Town of Brighton, located on the southeast border of the city of Rochester, was originally settled approximately 1790, and formally established in 1814—earning it recognition as one...
, just outside the city line of Rochester
Rochester, New York
Rochester is a city in Monroe County, New York, south of Lake Ontario in the United States. Known as The World's Image Centre, it was also once known as The Flour City, and more recently as The Flower City...
.
Sister Maureen Murphy, a thirty-six year old Montessori teacher, was found bleeding in her room by the other sisters of the convent when she did not come down for meals.
Sister Maureen denied she had given birth; when examined by medical staff, she said she couldn't remember being pregnant. She had covered up the pregnancy by wearing the traditional nun's habit
Religious habit
A religious habit is a distinctive set of garments worn by members of a religious order. Traditionally some plain garb recognisable as a religious habit has also been worn by those leading the religious eremitic and anachoritic life, although in their case without conformity to a particular uniform...
. The baby was found dead in her small convent room in a waste basket, asphyxiated.
The police found ticket stubs and other information in the nun's convent room indicating that precisely nine months earlier she had traveled out of state to an educational conference. During the trial, the father of the baby was never named. It was never suggested that the nun had been raped by a priest.
At her trial, Sister Maureen waived her right to a jury, and Judge Hyman Maas, a Jew, presided. There was a great deal of controversy about whether a Jewish judge would give a Catholic nun a fair trial. The trial was over in ten days, and Maas found the nun not guilty of all charges by reason of insanity in March 1977. It was reported in several newspapers on March 4, 1977.
The convent where the murder occurred is adjacent to the still-functioning suburban parish and school. The convent is used to house University of Rochester graduate students. The girl's high school, St. Agnes, where some of the nuns taught, is closed.
Original Broadway Production
The play opened on Broadway March 30, 1982 at the Music Box TheatreMusic Box Theatre
The Music Box Theater is a Broadway theatre located at 239 West 45th Street in midtown-Manhattan.The once most aptly named theater on Broadway, the intimate Music Box was designed by architect C. Howard Crane and constructed by composer Irving Berlin and producer Sam H. Harris specifically to...
. The original cast was Elizabeth Ashley
Elizabeth Ashley
Elizabeth Ashley is an American actress who first came to prominence as the ingenue in the Broadway play Take Her, She's Mine, which earned her a Tony Award as Best Featured Actress in a Play.-Early life:...
as Dr. Livingstone, Geraldine Page
Geraldine Page
Geraldine Sue Page was an American actress. Although she starred in at least two dozen feature films, she is primarily known for her celebrated work in the American theater...
as Mother Miriam Ruth and Amanda Plummer as Agnes. Plummer received the Tony Award
Tony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...
for Best Featured Actress in a Play
Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play
This is a list of winners and nomination of the Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actress. The award was first presented in 1947.-1940s:* 1947: Patricia Neal – Another Part of the Forest* 1949: Shirley Booth – Goodbye, My Fancy-1950s:...
and Page was nominated for Best Actress in a Play
Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play
This is a list of the winners and nominations of Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play. The award has been presented since 1947, and is for performance in new productions or revivals.-1940s:...
. During the run, Elizabeth Ashley was succeeded in her role by Diahann Carroll and Amanda Plummer by Mia Dillon
Mia Dillon
Mia Dillon is an American actress.Born in Colorado, Dillon graduated from Marple-Newtown Senior High School in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania. She made her Broadway debut in Hugh Leonard's Da in 1978...
, Carrie Fisher
Carrie Fisher
Carrie Frances Fisher is an American actress, novelist, screenwriter, and lecturer. She is most famous for her portrayal of Princess Leia in the original Star Wars trilogy, her bestselling novel Postcards from the Edge, for which she wrote the screenplay to the film of the same name, and her...
and Maryann Plunkett
Maryann Plunkett
Maryann Plunkett is an American actress who in 1987 won the Tony Award for Best Leading Actress in a Musical for her performance as "Sally Smith" in Me and My Girl....
.
Lee Remick
Lee Remick
Lee Ann Remick was an American film and television actress. Among her best-known films are Anatomy of a Murder , Days of Wine and Roses , and The Omen .-Early life:...
played the psychiatrist in the show's pre-Broadway run in Boston and was advertised for the New York run but left the show prior to the New York opening.
Other Productions
The National Tour starred Ashley and Mercedes McCambridgeMercedes McCambridge
Carlotta Mercedes McCambridge was an American actress. Orson Welles called her "the world's greatest living radio actress."-Early life:...
. There was also a summer stock production starring Sandy Dennis
Sandy Dennis
Sandra Dale “Sandy” Dennis was an American theater and film actress. In 1966, she won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?.-Early life:...
, Peggy Cass
Peggy Cass
Mary Margaret “Peggy” Cass was an American actress, comedian, game show panelist, and announcer.A native of Boston, Massachusetts, Cass became interested in acting as a member of the drama club at Cambridge Latin School; however, she attended all of high school without a speaking part...
and Susan Strasberg
Susan Strasberg
Susan Elizabeth Strasberg was an American film and stage actress.-Background and career:Strasberg was born in New York City, New York, the daughter of theatre director and drama coach Lee Strasberg of the Actors Studio and former actress Paula Strasberg...
; and a London production starring Susannah York
Susannah York
Susannah York was a British film, stage and television actress. She was awarded a BAFTA as Best Supporting Actress for They Shoot Horses, Don't They? and was nominated for an Oscar and Golden Globe for the same film. She won best actress for Images at the 1972 Cannes Film Festival...
and Honor Blackman
Honor Blackman
Honor Blackman is an English actress, known for the roles of Cathy Gale in The Avengers and Bond girl Pussy Galore in Goldfinger .-Early life:...
.