The play is based on the ancient Albanian tradition, still in existence today, in which women take an oath of lifelong celibacy in exchange for the rights and responsibilities of living as men.
Balkan Tour of The Sworn Virgin
The Sworn Virgin is Blessed Unrest's second original, bilingual (English/Albanian) collaboration with Teatri Oda. In the fall of 2012, we finished developing the play and performed at Teatri Oda, then toured in Kosova, Macedonia, and Albania.
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The Sworn Virgin is based on the ancient Albanian tradition now beginning to vanish, in which women take, or are forced to take, an oath of lifelong celibacy in exchange for the rights and responsibilities of living as men. In the play, an aging cobbler in a mountain village is losing his ability to work while becoming obsessed with his collection of guns. His only son comes home for a visit with his new American wife bearing news that puts the family in a financial crisis and pushes his sister to make a shocking decision. Meanwhile, Madeleine Albright is in town for the unveiling of a statue in her honor, and when an American soldier and a love-struck New York Times reporter arrive on the scene, chaotic misunderstandings abound and secrets are revealed.
We believe that artistic collaboration has the power to break down cultural barriers and build international bridges, and we’ve been collaborating with Oda since 2005.
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This project was supported by grants from CEC ArtsLink, US State Department Embassy in Prishtina, Kosova Ministry of Culture, and by the generosity of individual donors.