Mallorie Sievert
The City-Women
A New Play by Mallorie Sievert
In fulfillment of her Elon University Honors Fellows Thesis, for the past year and a half Mallorie has been researching feminist and queer themes in early Christian literature and the Gnostic texts and developing this research into a full length play about queerness and religion. Arising out of a need for community, this play attempts to reflect the underrepresented experience of a young queer woman growing up in the Catholic Church in a way that will build upon feminist themes presented in early Christian texts and be accessible to a general audience.
A photo of the Santa Catalina Monastery in Arequipa, Peru, the real life monastery that inspired the setting of the play
Synopsis
When two young nuns in a 17th century cloistered convent discover their feelings for each other, they must decide whether to conform to the life that was chosen for them or forge their own path and discover who God truly wants them to be. Set against the backdrop of Latin America during the counter-reformation and drawing on themes introduced in early feminist Christian texts, this coming of age story explores love, spirituality, and sisterhood, and seeks to redefine what it means to be queer in the eyes of God.
Next Steps
Mallorie had the first public reading of her play on November 28th, 2023 at Elon University, and after a round of revisions, had a second public reading, a fully realized stage reading, on March 15th and March 18th at Elon. She has submitted to several relevant playwriting festivals and hopes to produce her play professionally within the next year. Get in touch for inquiries, more information about her research or the play, or for access to the script if you're interested in reading it!
A photo from the first public reading at Elon University on November 28th