MARIA STUART

By: Friedrich Von Schiller

Direction by: Prof. Emeritus Tony Mabesa

Filipino Translation by: Allan Palileo


Lust for power or martyrdom for faith?


Maria Stuart, Queen of Scots, faces a predicament of bewitching but tragic proportions as she faces death in the midst of rivalry with her cousin, Queen Elizabeth I of England.


After a controversial accident that resulted to the death of her second husband Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, a sudden marriage to James Hepburn, 4th Earl of Bothwell, an imprisonment for disappointing the Scottish nobility, and the Battle of Langside, she soon fled to England.


Upon her arrival, she was immediately imprisoned by Elizabeth's officers at the Carlisle Castle. Mary expected Elizabeth I to help her regain her throne but instead finds her cousin distrustful of her motives. Thus begins a bloody conflict that involves an acrimonious confrontation between the two women, destroying not only their ties, but threatening the crown of England as well.


After almost two decades of imprisonment, she was put on trial for treason and was sentenced to death. Being a devoted Catholic, she spent her last hours of confinement at the Fotheringhay Castle in prayer. The play takes place in the last three days of Mary, in the land of Protestants, apart from the land of her Catholic faith. Many consider her a martyr for dying in the name of God.


A tragic story of seduction, greed, deception, power, love, and religion, Maria Stuart shows two iconic women whose struggle for power exemplifies one of the most moving and thrilling displays of passion and politics the world has ever seen.


Directed by Tony Mabesa, this production is inspired by the Donmar Warehouse Production of Friedrich Von Schiller’s Mary Stuart which ran on Broadway for a limited time and had 7 Tony Awards nominations including the Best Performance by Janet Mcteer who portrayed the role of Mary Stuart.


Featuring the comeback of Tess Dumpit on stage after a decade, Banaue Miclat of the Metropolitan Opera, Lincoln Center, Shamaine Centenerra-Buencamino, Stella Cañete, Ana Abad Santos, Flor Salangga, Floy Quintos, and the Dulaang UP ensemble.


Maria Stuart will run from the 18th of November until the 6th of December at the Wilfrido Ma. Guerrero Theater at the UP Diliman every Wednesdays to Fridays at 7pm and on Weekends at 10am and 3pm with Saturdays at 7pm. For more information, please contact: the Dulaang UP Office 926.1349, 981.8500 loc 2449, or 433.7840/ 655.9794, Ms. Jhoy Zapata, Marketing Apprentice (09272548430), Ms. Cheska Cartativo, Marketing head (09063466226).

---