Mary of Egypt: Behind the Scenes

“The prostitute of Alexandria, Mary, is cast into the wilderness for spiritual contemplation. In the arid desert, Mary and Zossima, a holy man, find in each other a kind of spiritual ecstasy.”

So begins the synopsis for Mary of Egypt, the opera by British composer John Tavener (1944-2013) making its first appearance in the UK tonight in King’s College Chapel.

We caught up with co-director, Theodora Tavener, one of the composer’s daughters and Camilla Seale, who is playing the title role, at their first rehearsal in the chapel last week to talk about this little-known work and the performance, which marks the year anniversary of the composer’s death.

We quickly discovered that, sex workers and allusions to class A drugs aside, this is certainly not your ordinary opera.

Mary of Egypt is running from 29 to 31 October in King’s College Chapel. Visit http://www.maryofegypt.com for more information.