Mary gave birth to a daughter while imprisoned, who died months later. Mary herself remained in the asylum until her death in 1815. Plot Summary and Structure
Many university and high school drama departments hold physical copies or institutional digital access to the script via theatrical databases like Drama Online or the internet archive library services.
The script is not merely a retelling of a historical event; it is a highly theatrical piece that utilizes expressionistic techniques to depict the degradation of a woman’s mind and freedom. The Story: A Real-Life Tragedy (1790-1815) the insanity of mary girard script pdf
Lanie Robertson’s play is based on the actual life of , the wife of Stephen Girard, who was one of the wealthiest men in American history. In 1790, Stephen Girard used his immense wealth and legal power to commit Mary to the Pennsylvania Hospital as an "insane" person, despite her protests of sanity.
Unable to leave her cell, Mary reenacts her "commitment hearing" using her bucket as a judge's bench and her blanket as a robe. She plays all parts: the crying defendant, the cold lawyer, the indifferent judge. It is heartbreaking comedy. Mary gave birth to a daughter while imprisoned,
The most common question about this powerful play is how to get a copy of the script. Here is the essential information:
So, where can you read this?
The play takes place in inside the dark basement of the Pennsylvania Hospital in Philadelphia . Mary Girard, the young wife of the incredibly wealthy merchant and financier Stephen Girard, wakes up strapped to a "tranquilizing chair". She discovers that her husband has legally declared her a lunatic and committed her to the asylum.
A significant turning point in the play's history came when Robertson found himself unable to locate any court records or detailed accounts of Mary's commitment hearing. He told an interviewer that the sheer absence of documentation became a central theme of his work: "He is trying to find the facts of Mary's life, but they don't exist because no one at the time thought her life was worth recording." This silence, this historical erasure, is what Robertson's play attempts to break. The script is not merely a retelling of
Long before the term was popularized, this script depicted the ultimate gaslighting scenario. Mary is told repeatedly that she is ill, that she doesn't understand her own mind, and that her husband is acting in her best interest. The power dynamic is absolute; the Keeper holds the keys, and the Commission holds the pen, and Mary has no weapon but her voice.
