Shop

THE DEVIL’S TUNIC

$5.40$15.00

This epic thriller begins as the tomb of Mary Magdalene is discovered in SW France and her DNA is tracked to Australia. The play moves from Biblical times to Medieval France, where the Cathars are persecuted, and then to nineteenth-century France and the discovery of scrolls which may lead to the Holy Grail. Finally it takes us to contemporary Australia where a prostitute, a Muslim refugee and a Scrabble champion each believe that they and they alone are the descendant of the union of Christ and Mary Magdalene. Meanwhile America has declared war in the Middle East. If the descendant of Christ can't be found in time, the characters may face extinction.

Written with the assistance of an Edith Cowan University research grant, and the contribution of WAAPA acting students.

'A deeply thoughtful, provocative piece of work... Edmund's weaving of ancient outrage with contemporary nightmare was bold and challenging and full of powerful and moving language.'
Jan Hallam, The Sunday Times, Perth 2004

  • epic
  • 120
  • 16 total
  • 8 female identifying, 8 male identifying
  • adolescence
  • 16 to 18, 18+
  • young adult, adult
  • Australian Script Centre


  • MONOLOGUES
  • PRODUCTION HISTORY

You can preview the full online text with a Membership

Evangelist

Male | Unspecified | under 3 minutes
Starts on page 33

EXTRACT: We have heard, from a man of age, and of another culture, that Christ is coming back to us... in the form of a woman... born of a woman. Can we heed his call? Can the righteous amongst us believe this man? Hmm?! We live in a world of horror. A world where deceit and lies reign supreeem like a pizza we order from a telephone

Adult themes

Hugh

Male | Unspecified | under 3 minutes
Starts on page 37

EXTRACT: Terminus sounds like a stop on the road somewhere the end of the line I suppose. Well, it is for the foetus but can be a new door opening for the mother. Terminal cancer. Life is a terminal disease. So with that knowledge where do we draw the line, what are our limits? Where do we need to stop if we need to stop anywhere at all? When do the choices we make resonate most truthfully to make us whole? How should we live this absurd life?

Adult themes, Adult language

Beliabaste

Male | Unspecified | 3 to 5 minutes
Starts on page 4

EXTRACT: And he who fell the furthest wrapped us in a cocoon of filth in which only the spirit rests, clear water in a clenched hand of grime and of pus. And he who fell the furthest once was pure and flamed in heaven. But, catching his reflection in God's eye, shackled in the snare of his own beauty, turned proud and galled, swarming with vanity.

Adult themes

Search for details of past productions at AusStage.edu.au

AusStage provides an accessible research facility for investigating live performance in Australia.


Search by play title and/or playwright name
Results will open in a new window

PLEASE NOTE: You will be directed to AusStage.edu.au for search results; Australian Plays Transform is not responsible for their completeness. Refer to our terms of use.

$15.00
$5.40
SKU: ASC-939 Category:

We acknowledge that we live and create on unceded lands. We pay our respects to the First Peoples of Australia, and to their elders past, present and future.

© Australian Plays Transform 2024