Mother Wove The Morning; The Presence Of The Goddess

A one-woman play written and performed by Carol Lynn Pearson, directed by Gail Dolgin and Judith Montell (director of the superb Forever Activists), and filmed before a live audience in San Francisco, Mother Wove the Morning is an ambitious exploration of the lack of and need for the feminine face of God. The play is "told" through 16 women characters dating back to pre-history ("Bruen the Paleolithic") and moving forward through the centuries to modern times ("Marie the Therapist"). Being neither a feminist nor a Christian, I spent the first half-hour thinking that this was--in the words of a Sleepless in Seattle character--a "chick flick," and a religious one to boot. However, towards the close of the first act, when "Io the Greek," "Julia the Gnostic," and "Paula the Christian" point out the hypocrisy and patent absurdity of rules forbidding women to act in the theatre or have a place in the clergy, I was struck both by the wisdom and the wit of Pearson's words. Likewise, in Act 2, "Genevieve the Witch," "Elizabeth Cady Stanton," and "Marie the Feminist" score the biggest points both on a critical level and with the audience. The more dramatic skits tend to be, on the whole, less effective for three reasons. Without the diversionary laughter of Pearson's modern asides, the dramatic weaknesses are more obvious: when each portrait has the same theme and roughly the same conclusions, our yearning for revelatory insights (which the best dramas provide) is unsatisfied. Dramatically speaking, Mother Wove the Morning pounds more or less a single note on the drum--whether the note is valid or not is beside the point from a dramatic perspective. Secondly, the video filming--though generally very well done--works against the play occasionally. In a skit about the heinous rape of the concubine, Pearson delivers an eyewitness account at a high emotional pitch which is made more uncomfortable to watch by the many camera close-ups (the stage, on the other hand, puts distance between the performer and the audience and also requires that the performer exaggerate the performance to reach the entire audience). Finally, there is the problem of writing characters as illustrations of an idea, rather than as interesting characters in and of themselves, which happens in the story of "Bruen the Paleolithic" (did paleolithic woman--or man--ponder the lack of balance between the feminine and the masculine in their religious concerns?) or "Running Cloud the Native American" whose prayer to Thinking Woman plays like filler. Taken in its entirety, however, there is much to appreciate in Mother Wove the Morning. Pearson's accomplishment is admirable, her talent notable, her concerns genuine. In the best of these skits, I (and I speak here as a male) was reminded of not just the deep offense of the historical subjugation of woman, but also how ludicrous and simple-minded man's petty and wholly unjustified claims to gender dominance have been and, sadly, too often continue to be.The Presence of the Goddess, narrated by the famed Chilean novelist Isabel Allende (The Infinite Plan), is a lethargic pop history of the evolution of the Goddess in pre-historic times through Greek civilization. Combining stills, footage shot on location in the Mediterranean region, and simple animation, the film lacks both a strong narrative thread and a sense of purpose. In place of story, we are given examples: fertility figures, earth goddesses, goddesses of war, animal goddesses, etc., all presented under the general, catch-all rubric of "The Goddess," as if throughout the cradle of civilization, communication lines were up and running and all were in universal agreement. Viewers expecting to see and hear about the Assyro-Babylonian and Egyptian pantheons--which were hardly mono-gender--will be disappointed. The implication given here is that "gods" weren't really a force until after the patriarchal Greeks conquered the goddess-worshiping Cretans (meaning residents of Crete, not morons). Gods were, of course, extant long before the Dorian Greeks whomped the Cretans and snarfed up their gods and goddesses. The second half of the film focuses on the main goddesses of Greek mythology: Hera, Athena, Demeter, Aphrodite, and Artemis (Hestia is left out, as are the numerous minor goddesses). With neither a hint of humor nor excitement, the basic stories of these goddesses are retold while the camera often pans an Aegean landscape. The film concludes by mourning the extinction of the goddess at the close of Greece's heyday (the Romans apparently didn't exist), and offering a fuzzy generality for today's audience: "woman is the storehouse of the spiritual history of the goddess." This, along with fifty cents, will get you a cup of coffee at 7-11. Serious devotees of the return of the goddess movement would probably enjoy this, but general audiences will be bored. [Note: this is being sold to individuals for $39.95.]Mother Wove the Morning is recommended. [Note: a companion book of the play, which we also recommend, is included with the video for the package price of $39.95.] (Available from most distributors, and direct from Mother Wove the Morning, 1384 Cornwall Ct., Walnut Creek, CA 94596; (510) 906-8835.) The Presence of the Goddess is not a necessary purchase. (Available from: Balcoran Films, 202 Meda Lane, Mill Valley, CA 94941; (415) 381-6662.)