SHADOW OF LIGHT By Amany El-Sawy

 

SHADOW OF LIGHT

By Amany El-Sawy 

دراما شعرية مستوحاة من نص ظل النور

للروائي العالمي محي حافظ

A Poetic Drama in One Scene inspired by the story of Mary Magdalene by Mohy El-Din Mahmoud Hafez

Setting:

A timeless desert. The stage is bare except for a circle of stones, a solitary olive tree, and a distant rock. Light filters in like memory—soft, silver, eternal.

Sounds: Whispering winds, the faint echo of psalms, water flowing beneath silence.

Characters:

Mary Magdalene — The luminous, the broken, the beloved.

Jesus — A presence of light and voice.

Peter — A voice of wonder and regret.

The Virgin Mary — A silent prayer woven into air.

John the Baptist — An echo from the wilderness.

The Crowd — Shadows with stones in hand.

[Mary stands alone in the stone circle. Dust clings to her hair. Her gaze is distant.]

MARY

Peter asked me once:

Mary, what did the Master whisper to you

that He never said to us?

Did He call your name?

Did He say that He loved you?

I remember...

He said:

“I love you… but our meeting is not here.”

[A faint voice echoes from the wind.]

JOHN THE BAPTIST (Echo)

A voice cries out in the wilderness...

Prepare the way.

The Messiah is near.

MARY

I dreamt of him before I saw him.

A golden man

whose hair dripped musk

and whose silence knew my name.

When he came to me,

his hand touched neither skin nor sin,

only my brow—

and a whisper entered me like fire.

He said:

“I was in your dream, Mary.

And you… will be closest to me.”

[Shadows emerge, stones in their fists, circling her slowly.]

THE CROWD (chanting softly)

Sinner.

Stone her.

Make her dust again.

[A soft figure—the Virgin—stands at the edge, hands lifted in prayer.]

VIRGIN MARY (whispering)

O Lord,

Let mercy descend

like dew upon her name.

[Suddenly, a quiet light enters. JESUS steps into the circle. He radiates peace.]

JESUS (gently)

Let the one among you without sin

be the first to cast a stone.

[The ground shimmers. Clear water wells beneath the feet of the accusers. Stones fall silently.]

THE CROWD (confused, frightened)

Water?

Beneath us?

What have we become?

[They scatter like fog at dawn.]

MARY (falling to her knees)

You saved me—

not with thunder,

but with a gaze.

In your eyes,

I saw a light no temple holds.

[JESUS draws near. She reaches for him. He lifts a gentle hand.]

JESUS

Mary…

Do not touch me.

I have not yet risen.

MARY (smiling through her tears)

I do not need to touch you.

You touched me from the start.

Not with hands,

but with the word,

the breath,

the way you made me see myself

as God sees me:

Pure.

Loved.

Worthy of life again.

[She rises slowly, holding a small flame cupped in her hand.]

MARY (to the audience)

I am the shadow of His light.

I am Mary of Magdala—

not lover,

but flame.

Love did not die.

It burned brighter.

[Blackout. A single voice remains.]

JESUS (whisper, eternal)

Let the one among you

without sin…

SILENCE