The Saint

What would be a story of Mary of Egypt, a woman from the 4th century AD, wandering around in the contemporary urbanised “desert” and searching for liberation? Is there less violence in our more civilised society today? Is it more empathic or tolerant? As we are talking about human rights, woman’s situation and freedom, are we really free from the ancient patriarchal legacy?

The story of Mary of Egypt, surrounded by rumours and mystics, is the starting point for the creators of the play. This woman, which had to sell her own body in the 4th century AD Alexandria, set off with the pilgrims to Jerusalem. However, the gates to the Holy Sepulchre were closed to her. After that she wandered in the desert for a long time, searching for repentance and peace.

„Mary of Egypt is a woman that never gives up. She moves on after having experienced a horrible violence in her life. I relate to this woman a lot. I feel her, I see myself in her story. It is not just a role: my soul here flies to the abyss and creates a new life. This play helps me get back on my feet, may it also help the other”, Eglė Jackaitė says.

According to the creators of the play, in Mary of Egypt today we can see every woman – the mother, the daughter, the sister, the wife, who everyday has to walk on the sharp boundary between the saint and the sinner.

„It is a play about a woman. It is about me and about the women I love – my mother, my friends. About every woman who is hurt, sad, who feels pain, who feels betrayed, who suffers violence. I think there are so many women in the world who have experienced suffering and violence”, Eglė Jackaitė says.