You can pretty much sum up Jacobean era Tragedies in three words: “nearly everybody dies”, and the Tragedy of Mariam is no different.
Herod has been hauled to Rome for the murders of his wife’s (Mariam) Grandfather and Brother (who he offed to secure his ascent to the throne). Mariam is informed that Herod is dead and has mixed emotions – she knew he loved her, but the whole “murdering her family” thing has put a dampener on things. Herod being dead turns out to be complete codswallop as he saunters back in, to a rather nonplussed Mariam. His sister Salome then decides to stir up trouble by telling Herod that Mariam’s been sleeping around in his absence (she hasn’t). Herod goes absolutely ballistic, has Mariam and others killed, before realising his sister was telling porkies. Whoops.
Lazarus Theatre Company made a huge effort to adapt this to the stage, combining music, movement and passionate performances from a multi-talented cast, but it sadly missed the mark on what it was trying to achieve. Adapting this for the stage was never going to be an easy task - Cary notably wrote this as a closet drama (it consists of lengthy monologues which are easier to digest if read and discussed). Although there were some fantastic usage of movement and imagery, Lazarus’ adaptation seemed to fail in conveying adequately to a modern audience Cary’s work. This was largely due to it being so short (60 minutes) - it subsequently felt rushed - the audience had insufficient time to grasp the plot or to build any relationship with the characters. Thus, when Mariam meets her grisly end, there was no shock value, more a mediocre “ah well, sucks to be her” attitude.
I appreciate that Lazarus were at a push to fit a classic into a Fringe time-frame but for me it was just too rushed. The cast are obviously talented and really put their all into it, and the stage and lighting created incredible ambiance but sadly, there just wasn't enough to keep the audience engaged with the story, which is a real shame.
