The Magnificat Project is a theatrical version of the Biblical account of the Nativity, which remains close to the text while still allowing for a little whimsy and humor. As such it is one of the strangest things I’ve ever done, because I am not a Christian.
The Reverend Greg Briggs introduced the text to me before Christmas 2020, during the heart of the Covid-19 pandemic. He declared about the one good thing about quarantine was not having to do the Nativity play, because it was a lightning rod for interpersonal drama, but also because it wasn’t Biblical. I read the text and was shocked by it. This Mary was no silent, pretty figurine. She was a prophet, raging against injustice. I promised I’d write him a Nativity play he would like, and after a good deal of consultation with Briggs and others steeped in theology, I wrote this.
The story is a harmonization of the Jesus birth stories from the Gospels of Matthew and John, while still lifting the social and political context of both versions. The Bible I studied to create most of the text is the Harper Collins Study Bible (and all three of my experts agreed on this version), primarily from Matthew and Luke, and including a little from Isaiah. I also reviewed the text of the Magnificat in The Inclusive Bible. The wording of scriptures used in the text are Rev. Briggs’ own.
I have always been interested in the sharp difference between the Protestant reformers of the early Modern era and the modern Protestant churches now. I am watching pious friends, both Catholic and Protestant, agonizing about the split between what their communities are like and what the Bible suggests it should be. We must all remember that people were tortured to death to read the scripture for themselves, interpret it according to their conscience and not merely accept the version handed down to them by the rich and powerful. I hope Magnificat helps in this struggle.
