Incorruptible Study Guide

Incorruptible

By Michael Hollinger

Directed by Matthew Decker

A Supplemental Study Guide Prepared by Liz Nugent

MAY 22 - JUNE 22

a dark comedy about the dark ages

Table of ContentsPage 1

The Creative Team

Page 2Who’s Who: Character Profiles

Pages 3-6Plot Synopsis

Page 7Glossary of Terms

Page 8Words from the Playwright

Page 9Workshop: Allegorical Story-telling Exercise

Page 10Importance of Profession in the Middle Ages

Page 11The Catholic Church and the Medieval Community

Page 12 The Afterlife & Times of Saint Foy

Page 13Discussion Questions

Page 14-16Then and Now:

A Comparison of Our Production of Incorruptible and Artwork of the Era

Page 17Learn More: Sources

The Creative Team

Arden Theatre Company presents

IncorruptibleBy Michael Hollinger

Directed by Matthew Decker

Creative Team:Scenic Designer … James Kronzer

Costume Designer … Lauren PerigardLighting Designer … Eric SouthernSound Designer … Jorge CousineauAssistant Director … Jonathan Silver

Stage Manager … Alec E. Ferrell

Cast of Characters:

Charles … Paul L. NolanBrother Martin … Ian Merrill Peakes

Brother Olf … Sam SherburneBrother Felix … Josh Carpenter

Peasant Woman … Mary MartelloJack … Michael Doherty

Marie … Alex KeiperAgatha … Marcia Saunders

Place:The chapter house of a monastery in Priseaux, France.

Time:Around 1250 A.D.

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Who’s Who?Character Profiles

Brother Charles- The Abbott of Priseaux. Idealistic yet grounded by the dismal state of the town and their abbey.

Brother Martin- Second in command at Priseaux. Martin is a cynic, a realist. To him, faith only takes one so far.

Brother Olf- A novice. Simple-minded yet earnest. Became a monk to witness a miracle. This has yet to happen but he is willing to wait.

Brother Felix- A devout and and trustworthy novice. His only vice is “the fairer sex”. Still quite young, Felix often falls victim to his libido.

Peasant Woman- Hailing from the village, this woman practices her faith when it suits her. Takes advantage of her daughter’s youth and image to pay the bills.

Jack- A minstrel… with one eye. His endgame is a bakery but he needs funds, so he and his so-called “wife” travel France with their act to generate funds.

Marie- Jack’s “wife” in every sense but the legal one. Also the Peasant Woman’s daughter.

Agatha- Abbess of Bernay, a neighboring town, and Charles’ sister. She has a rather aggressive manner.

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Photography by Mark Garvin 2

Synopsis - Act IScene One

The beginning of this play brings us to the Abbey of Priseaux, France, derelict and in danger of shutting its doors for good due to lack of money flow. Why? Well this abbey has a relic— the consecrated remains of St. Foy which has not conducted a single miracle in thirteen years! We meet Brother Martin and a Peasant Woman. Martin refuses to let her pray to the relic because the woman is broke. Enter Charles, the Abbot of this monastery, who appeases the woman, she gets her prayer. Martin and Charles argue ideals over practicality— Martin is Charles’ successor and if there is to be an abbey by the time that happens, they need to pinch every penny they can. Charles takes offense because he built Priseaux up as abbot for the past thirteen years. He believes that the visit and blessing he is expecting from the Pope for their saint will improve the situation. Martin is skeptical; the saint is inactive, why would the Pope want to see it? In enters Brother Olf with a sack that contains a body! A few moments later, Brother Felix rushes in, just back from his journey to Rome. When he arrived in Rome, the Pope was gone— he just left to see a relic of St. Foy at a convent in Bernay. Horror-stricken, Felix headed to Bernay and saw the Pope, seated in front of the body of a saint, which was curing one invalid after another! The Abbess of the convent learned of Brother Felix’s presence and immediately removed him from the premises, stating that one of his kind (though this monk had one eye) gave her the bones, which she rightfully paid for in thirty gold pieces, and accused him of trying to steal it back! The Pope will not be coming to Priseaux. There is a knock on the door. It is the Peasant Woman again. She heard about what happened in Bernay. Her son-in-law saw it “with his own eye.” Having been asked how many eyes her son-in-law has, she reveals that he in fact has one good eye, the other is “scrambled like an egg”. He is a minstrel, and was passing through Bernay with her daughter. Suspicious of any man with one eye, the monks book him to come to the abbey.

Photography by Mark Garvin

Cast of Incorruptible

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Synopsis - Act IScene Two

The next scene opens with Marie and her “husband” Jack, the one-eyed minstrel, waiting in the abbey and preparing their act. Jack reassures Marie that all that needs to happen is to get paid and leave. This time not just the gig, but the lifestyle— that this could be the time they leave the act and start a life together. The Peasant Woman enters and insists that Marie should have married her previous suitor, Pierre when she had the chance because he was a great deal wealthier. Marie reveals that Pierre is dead. Enter Charles, Martin and Olf with an ulterior motive of entrapping this minstrel for his theft of their saint. After many tried and true routines with no reaction from the monks, Charles inquires as to the reasons a newly-wed couple should choose the roaming life of minstrels. Jack replies that they are saving up to open their own bakery. Charles asks Jack how he lost his eye. An old knife juggling accident was the cause, and after many offerings to the Church and no cure, his attitude toward the church grew jaded. The monks ask to address Jack alone. Charles tells a story about a baker he once knew. One year, the price of grain rose rapidly due to draught, so he found a way around it by mixing the flour he had with sawdust and instructed his son and daughter to do the same, even after the prices returned to normal. He even increased the ratio. He would have kept going but a vicar sat down to his daily bread one day and found a splinter in his lip! The baker was found out and whipped within an inch of his life. His children ran away and renounced the profession permanently. This man was Charles’ father. Jack senses something is wrong and they notice his purse around his neck while he tries to pack his things. When he tries to leave, Martin grabs hold of the string of his purse, causing a struggle until Jack gives up the pouch, containing thirty pieces of gold. Felix enters from digging a grave for the body Olf discovered in Scene I. The others use this to scare him further, to reveal his story: on their journey, Jack and Marie stopped in Bernay. The town was as bad off as Jack and Marie and the Abbess, who we learn is Charles’ sister, was praying for a saint to attract pilgrims and offerings like Priseaux. She asked the town to pitch in because they were desperate. Jack dug up a random grave and gave the bones to the convent. The monks don’t believe his story. If Jack does not return everything to normal— saint with power reinstated and all, they will tell the authorities that the body died at Jack’s hands. Jack insists that it’s who the people think the remains belong to that matters, not who they actually are. He even proposes that even the moneychanger could be passed off as a relic. This being said, the monks consider whether this all could be possible with the church graveyard outside. The funds are deeply needed to serve their community and rebuild their church. However, grave-robbing is still considered a sin and a crime, and since Jack has shown some experience in it, the monks issue an ultimatum that he must join this monastery, vows and all. “When there is a saint on the altar and the Pope comes to pray,” only then can Jack walk out the door with his freedom and purse.


Cast of Incorruptible Sam Sherburne, Michael Dohery, and Josh Carpenter

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Synopsis - Act IIA few months later, the abbey is in much better condition. The monks have thrived in the business of resurrecting dead bodies, and distributing parts all over the medieval world. There is just one problem— they unearthed the very last body in their churchyard. It seems the business has finally run its course. Felix enters with a note with the seal of Rome on it addressed to Brother Martin. It turns out that Martin has been courting the Pope behind Charles’s back, in hopes to get him to visit, to fully restore the abbey’s reputation. This particular letter indicates that he is coming to Priseaux… today, all because Martin promised him an Incorruptible, a body that refuses to decay in death as an act of God, as the miracle of choice for him to witness. However, they have nothing to show him, not to mention there are sacks of bones all over the abbey that need to be hidden. Martin comes up with an idea- have Jack find them an Incorruptible, by any means necessary. All the monks disperse but Felix while Jack, now Brother Norbert, enters stealthily with a heavy-looking sack containing Marie. Jack tries to pass her off as the last body from the churchyard. Felix expresses his disappointment to Jack about the business they brought themselves into, how faith seems to be waning and he does not feel at home there. Felix shares his story. He was of noble birth but was in love with a peasant girl. They would meet in secret because his parents did not approve. Because of this, the couple made the decision to drown themselves together in the river. When they jumped in the water, he couldn’t bring himself to stay under but they separated and she never resurfaced. He was so ashamed, that he fled the village and joined the order. He leaves. Once they are alone, Marie escapes from the sack to scold Jack. She is starting to think he likes it here. Jack argues that he is merely trying to fit in and not cause any suspicion. When Charles and Martin are heard offstage, he throws the sack over her head and asks her to play dead once more. Martin and Charles enter, with the intent to instruct Jack to “find” them an Incorruptible. When they finally do, Jack doubts he could be of help. Martin is straightforward with Jack and tells him to just find someone- and how he does is entirely up to him. Jack catches on- he needs to kill someone. Jack refuses, but Martin tells him it’s not a request- that he either finds one or he will be one. Martin gives him his knife and leaves.

Jack tries to defend the monks to Marie— “their ideals are high but their overhead’s higher.” Marie is finally frank with him— she is pregnant. She does not know if it is his because her mother has been “working her overtime” since he left but she is offering it to him as his, theirs, once he gets out and they start their lives together. Olf enters and realizes what is going on— Jack brought a woman into the abbey! Martin enters and, seeing Marie on Jack’s shoulder, he thinks Jack already found an “Incorruptible”. Jack goes with it and they put her on the altar. Charles enters, having changed his mind on this plan, but, having seen Marie on the altar, he immediately recoils in horror. Charles confesses himself weak of heart to Jack. He came to the abbey to restore his faith, was charged to bake and he was happy. However, thirteen years ago, when he became abbot, his task was to keep the order healthy, his faith grew weary and he “had to stretch the flour.” St. Foy stopped producing miracles when he became abbot. He believed she knew his faith had died. He gives Jack his purse back and leaves. Marie gets up and insists they leave now. Felix silently approaches, and hides, listening to every word. Jack pleads with Marie just to play along for a few hours until the Pope leaves, but Marie will have no part of this, regretting not having married Pierre when she had the chance. She tries to leaves but immediately returns. Agatha, the abbess of Bernay has arrived. She storms through the doors, demanding to see the Abbot and the incorruptible and storms off, further into the abbey. Felix enters, and Jack forces Marie back onto the altar. Felix asks Jack if he tells the truth. Felix is very passionate about this yet confesses that all he has done is lie. He points out that Jack didn’t finish the prayer Felix interrupted. Jack kneels to continue while Felix reveals Marie’s face, kisses her passionately, and covers her back up just as Jack finishes. Before leaving, Felix reminds Jack that the truth will set him free. Jack and Marie confess to each other that they cannot marry. The peasant woman storms in demanding to see the incorruptible, followed by Charles. She fears her daughter is dead— Marie did not return home this morning from “work.” Charles goes to lift the shroud but Jack stops them. The peasant woman realizes who he is and curses him for disappearing on them with the money from Bernay.

(next page)

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Suddenly, Agatha bursts in. She demands to see the Incorruptible after losing the Pope’s interest in Bernay. She asks Charles where he got St. Foy, whether he dug it up or not, like all the other “relics” in their pantry. Jack reveals that he did the same to her as they had with the others. Having heard all this, Agatha wants to see St. Foy’s replacement and gets past them to the altar where she unmasks Marie to everyone’s surprise. She declares possession of the Incorruptible- that once the Pope sees it and gives the abbey its blessing; it goes to Bernay with her, or she reveals their business scheme. Charles declares that they will bury it instead. An argument ensues, with Charles and Agatha tugging Marie back and forth. Jack finally speaks up and demands she stay on the altar. He explains that this young woman drowned herself years ago for love and just reappeared today, untouched. She ran away with her lover and they tried to drown themselves together in the river, but they separated. Agatha does not buy it, but Charles, with trust in both Jack and Felix, decides to leave the body where she lies, to trust in God if He wants them to prosper. Agatha agrees, excited to watch them fail and be humiliated, and exits to fetch the Pope. Charles and Martin exit. Jack runs to Marie to help her down, calling for Felix as he gives her his purse. Jack gives them his blessing as they elope together, but before Felix leaves, he retrieves St. Foy’s remains and gives them over to Jack to put on the altar. Felix stresses that it must be done in faith, for she was “cast off in a moment of doubt.” They leave and Jack begins resetting the bones of St. Foy as Martin and Charles return. They notice the change just as a knock begins at the door—it’s the Pope and there is no miracle for him to see. Martin presses Jack further as to what is going on and Jack only replies solemnly in Bible verse. The knocking intensifies steadily and Charles joins Jack in recitation. Jack clutches his patched eye. Charles approaches him as Jack lets go and lifts his patch. His eye is whole again. The show ends in tableau as the pounding at the door continues and the church bells ring.

Synopsis - Act IIContinued...



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GlossaryMillet: A fast-growing cereal plant that is widely grown in warm countries and regions with poor soils. The numerous small seeds are used to make flour or alcoholic drinks.

Abbott: The male superior of a monastery.

Abbess: The female equivalent for a convent/cloister.

Moneychanger: A person whose business is the exchanging of one currency for another. This position was especially crucial in Medieval Europe when currency could vary from town to town.

Pontiff: Another term for the Pope.

Relic: A part of or the entirety of a deceased holy person’s body or belongings kept as an object of reverence.

Dais: A low platform for a lectern, seats of honor, or a throne.

Minstrel: A medieval singer or musician, especially one who sang or recited lyric or heroic poetry to a musical accompaniment for the nobility.

Motley: The many-colored costume of a jester.

Vestry: A room or building attached to a church, used as an office and for changing into ceremonial/official clergy garments for church services.

Lute: A stringed instrument having a large pear-shaped body, a vaulted back, a fretted fingerboard, and a head with tuning pegs which is often angled backward from the neck.

Pillory: A wooden framework with holes for the head and hands, in which an offender was imprisoned and exposed to public abuse.

Vicar: (In the Roman Catholic Church) A representative or deputy of a bishop.

Cassock: A full-length garment of a single color worn by certain Christian clergy, members of church choirs, acolytes, and others having some particular office or role in a church.

Scimitar: A short sword with a curved blade that broadens toward the point, used originally in Eastern countries.

Provost: The keeper of a prison.

Incorruptible: A saint so holy that their body experiences little to no decay or decomposition after death due to Godly Intervention. This is separate from mummification or embalming, for those are deliberate attempts for preservation.

Haberdasher: A dealer in goods for dressmaking and sewing.

Cowl: A large loose hood, especially one forming part of a monk’s habit.

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Words from thePlaywright

Michael Hollinger is the playwright of Ghost-Writer, Opus, Tooth and Claw, Red Herring, Incorruptible, An Empty Plate in the Cafe Du Grand Boeuf, and Tiny Island, all of which premiered at Philadelphia’s Arden Theatre Company. These plays have enjoyed numerous productions around the country (including Actors Theatre of Louisville, the Old Globe, Seattle Rep, Northlight Theatre, Portland Center Stage, PlayMakers Rep, TheatreWorks, People’s Light &Theatre Company, Berkshire Theatre Festival, and many others), in New York City (Primary Stages and Ensemble Studio Theatre), and abroad (London, Paris, Tokyo, Athens, Poland, and Slovenia). Michael’s new translation/co-adaptation (with Aaron Posner) of Rostand’s Cyrano De Bergerac premiered at the Folger Theatre in 2011, receiving seven Helen Hayes Award nominations, including Outstanding New Play; his new musical A Wonderful Noise (co-authored with Vance Lehmkuhl) received the Frederick Loewe Award for Musical Theatre, the “In the Spirit of America” Award from the Barbara Barondess MacLean Foundation, and a developmental production at Creede Repertory Theatre in the summer of 2009. A new play, Hope and Gravity, will premiere at Pittsburgh’s City Theatre in May, 2014; a newer play, Under the Skin, will premiere in the Arden’s 2014-15 season.

In an interview with the Arden, Michael spoke about his connection to Incorruptible. The piece had its world premiere at the Arden back in 1996. This was a time when Michael himself was still learning what it was to be a playwright in a changing Philadelphia theatre community, similar to how these monks were learning the price of doing some good in a community that was also changing rapidly. Here is his explanation:

“You know, the play began at a time when there were a lot of televangelist scandals going on, and so religion—popular Christian religion—was at a kind of a low ebb… “All religious public figures are in it for the money” was a kind of public consciousness. And so, that’s kind of the world I started writing the play in. What I discovered was that in a way, I felt that the church figures became too easy of a target for me, and I felt outside the play. I felt like the play was initially judging them: “oh look at these crooks.” And it wasn’t until I started thinking about the integrity of their vision and their mission, really their high ideals, that the play became interesting to me. I was working as a non-profit administrator at the time, as Literary Manager and Dramaturg for a theatre that did nothing but new plays. Our ideals were incredibly high — we wanted to find these emerging playwrights and do their plays, launch them into the world — very high ideals. But the day-to-day reality was, “Yeah, but we really need to nail this grant,” so if you need to make the play sound a little more socially relevant than it may really be, it’s all a means to an end. Or, when you get to the marketing materials, if you make it sound a little sassier and sexier than it really is, well, at least it gets people in the door. I was starting to understand the complexity of the high ideals versus the “how do we make payroll?” ” And that, I think, became a much more interesting knot to try to untie, and allowed me to identify with the characters and the dilemma that they’re in, rather than judge them.”

…..“A great irony in my life is that I wrote this play about an irreverent minstrel who winds up being brought into the fold at a Catholic institution, and this is exactly my identity at Villanova University. Here I am, this irreverent theatre guy, whose been invited into this Catholic institution and whose function may well be to jab it in the side every now and then and to generate laughter. So it’s very funny.”

-Michael Hollinger, Playwright

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Workshop:An Allegorical Story-Telling Exercise

What is an allegory?An allegory is a figure of speech in which abstract ideas and principles are described in terms of characters, figures and events. It is used to tell stories with the purpose of teaching ideas or principles or even explaining them. The idea is to teach morals or lessons. Allegory differs from symbolism by telling a story, whereas a symbol is an object that stands for another object or an idea but does not tell a story. Writers use allegory to add layers to their work, making their stories and characters multidimensional and making them stand for a larger meaning than what they literally stand for in the story. This gives writers the opportunity to express their personal beliefs or morals.

How is Incorruptible an allegory?Incorruptible is the story of a bunch of monks who blackmail someone who took their source of income from them to dig up the remains in their churchyard so they can sell them as relics of saints. This allows them funds to repair the abbey and support the community (feed the hungry, heal the sick, etc). Looking closer at this story, Incorruptible is the story of group of individu-als with high ideals about their vocation, but even higher financial concerns that actively and strongly impede their vocation. This experience tests how far they are willing to go to support their cause.

The Exercise:Take a moment to compile your personal beliefs or morals here. A moral is a person’s standards of behavior or beliefs in terms of what is or is not acceptable for them to do. Pick the strongest one.

Now come up with a storyline idea that connects with your moral listed above. For example, the playwright reflects on stretching the truth or bending the rules in other to support something that is strongly believed in— basically doing some bad in order to achieve some good. The monks are testing their moral limits to keep their abbey alive.

Create a list of characters and based off your storyline. What do they look like? How do they act? How do they relate and/or behave with each other? What is their name?

Create an environment for your play. Where is it? When is it? What is contained in it? Does any aspect of this environment hold any special significance to any of your characters? What is it and why?

What lesson does each character learn in this allegory? (ex. Aesop’s “The Tortoise and the Hare”— slow and steady wins the race).

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Importance of Profession in the Middle Ages“What a stupid line of work.” –Peasant Woman

Most occupations in the Middle Ages were not the sort of career stepping stones or strategic life goals one might think of in today’s society. This period was the Age of Feudalism, where villages developed closely beside the castles of lords, the peasant class worked the lords’ land and the craftsmen provided goods and services. There were the few people that comprised the lords’ courts and knights. They made up the nobility who provided protection to the merchants, craftsmen, and peasants in return for their services, goods, and labor. For the most part we have the merchant class and craftsmen, the clergy, and the peasants. Keep in mind, however, that each rung in this status ladder played a crucial role in the way of life of that particular time period- the idea of knowing that any imaginable need could be addressed by someone or even a group of people that possessed the proper training on knowledge.

The Merchants and the Craftsmen: Second only to the nobility, the merchant class developed rather quickly once feudalism was established. These goods and services became needed in other villages of other lords. Merchants transported these items between towns, broadening trade routes and becoming ambassadors for their regions. Craftsmen were the thoroughly trained and specialized laborers who supplied anything from food to weaving to metalwork. Almost every occupation had what was called a guild- a group of the same profession that was supported and protected, similar to today’s unions. Bakers, like Charles’ father, would fall under this guild class. Baking was a truly noble profession. It was needed for Communion in Church and it was a large staple in the medieval diet, both high and low class. The whiter the bread you ate, the wealthier you were. The peasant class ate the wheat, rye, and whole grain breads. Bakers even started to experiment with specialty loaves, like Jack with his famous raisin loaf.

Minstrels also provided service to the community. They were initially servants to the lord’s estate, entertaining with music and song to the court. Those who left these estates traveled from village to village, especially during festivals and holidays, providing music, entertainment and news of the day to the communities. They were almost always welcomed and were paid in food and lodging. Minstrels fell from this view when impersonators started to arise— they lacked the skill and tried to make up for it with crude humor and cheap jokes, much like when we first meet Jack.

The Clergy: The men and women who joined the clergy had multiple reasons for doing so. Men joined to seek refuge from war, sickness, or sinfulness. Some came to study and become educated. Some just desired a quiet life of prayer and service. We can see this in the clergy in the play— Charles (the Abbot of Priseaux) and Agatha (the Abbess of Bernay) escaped ridicule and punishment, Martin denied his father’s trade, Felix wanted to atone for his presumed fault for the loss of a loved one, and Olf wanted to witness a miracle. Similar to the life we see in Incorruptible, nuns and monks adopted vows of poverty, obedience and chastity and their days consisted of many church services, prayer, and service to their community as well as copying religious texts.

The Peasants: A large majority of the medieval population were peasants. A large majority of these peasants were bound to a lord, working in his house or in his fields or serving him in wartime (men). Not only did they work for him, they also paid taxes to him in either money or goods. On top of this, they had to give one tenth of what they reaped for themselves to the church as a tithe or offering. So one can imagine the Peasant Woman’s surliness to the monks when all she wants is a chance to make her cow healthy again— that cow’s milk might mean the difference between meal or not, or even larger debt to her lord. It also explains her tendency to pimp her daughter out for some extra money.

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The Catholic Church &the Medieval Community

From seeing or reading this play, one can deduce that the relationship between the Catholic Church and its parishioners was a complicated one. The Church endeavored to take care of its followers (i.e. educate it’s followers, clothe the naked, heal the sick, feed the hungry, etc.) but if they were to carry these tasks out on a regular basis, not to mention keep the physical institution in working order, they needed funds. With this in mind, tithes (a tenth part of one’s annual income contributed voluntarily or due as a tax to support the clergy or church) and offerings were common expectation and practice. On the converse side, the parishioners sought guidance and aide. People gave tithes with the idea that they would be protected from life’s adversities. This era of humanity created hardships for them in spite of their efforts. The uncertainties of life in the Middle Ages (disease, famine, and war to name a few) hindered their ability and willingness to pay the Church for something not always guaranteed. They prayed to the saints, offering up to their relics, and waited for miracles. They tried to uphold their faith, but the unknown was harder to trust then the known.

The Catholic Church in the Middle Ages was an establishment of authority and power. The clergymen and monks were some of the few people, besides nobility, who could read, making them reliable scribes and advisers to the ruling class. Their main role was to provide religious leadership and education to the community as well as provide refuge in times of need. They taught that everyone is a sinner but that maintaining the faith through faith in God, good works, and participation in Sacraments (spiritual rituals or rites of passage) would assure them entrance into Heaven. Failure or negligence to do so was punishable by eternal agony in Hell. The people of this time were terrified of this and went to great lengths to ensure their security in their afterlife.

In attempts to attain the miracles they needed or do penance for their sins, the people of this time made great pilgrimages- journeys of great distance and difficulty (on foot usually with the threat of being robbed in route to their destination) to a holy site of great importance in the Church’s history. This could be anything from visiting Rome or Jerusalem to churches wherein the remains of a saint are housed, whose patronage is necessary for the pilgrims’ problems. These remains are known as relics. They are said to have been able to perform miracles and also serve as a way for the community to connect with a long deceased yet important figure in Catholicism.

One of the greatest and rarest miracles was the state of being Incorruptible. This occurs when a saint dies but their body does not become subjected to decay or decomposition— the body stays intact and even flexible, not stiff or rigid, giving the illusion of sleep. This also occurs regardless of the environmental conditions they were exposed to at time of death, burial, or internment, which makes it so miraculous. Since not all saints are preserved this way, it is believed that the extent of piety (or goodness and faith) was so remarkable that it permeated the body or just by sheer will of God, regardless of the degree of piety in life. This usually was not discovered until months or years after their death or burial.

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The Afterlife & Times of Saint Foy

Relics became so valuable that there arose a trade of stealing them or mimicking them. To bring pilgrims, money, and even attention from Rome, the practice of stealing relics, or trading knock-off versions of relics, started. It started when the exportation of actual martyrs from Rome to shrines all over Europe became an up-and-coming means of commerce. Individuals soon began to pose as monks, selling remains that they acquired (sometimes forcefully) from the possession of a churchyard or the catacombs below. People started to assume that the bodies found in these places were actually martyrs. Furthermore, discrepancies arose when something described as being akin to something else actually became that something else. An example of this was a set of nails said to be from the same container as the ones that fastened Jesus to the cross. Through the grapevine, they became the actual three nails that were involved. Feeding the fire was the gullibility of the buyers and the competition over who had the more unusual piece.

It has been historically recorded that the saint, whose supposed theft drove the plot of Incorruptible, was actually stolen— St. Foy. That’s right, she was actually stolen. In life, she was the young daughter of a wealthy family living in Agen, France during the time of Roman Emperor Diocletian (the beginning of the 4th century AD). Of course territories under Roman rule at this time were subject to obey their laws regarding their polytheistic religion. Foy converted to Christianity and refused to observe those laws and pay homage to the Roman gods. Because of this, she was martyred by Diocletian’s order— to be burned alive. However, it took more than that to silence Foy— the fire miraculously extinguished, but Diocletian acted quickly and had her beheaded. Her remains were collected and housed in a monastery in Agen until 866 AD when a monk from Conques stole them.

The monks at Conques devised a plan to “acquire” some relics to attract pilgrims. They dispatched a monk to join Agen’s monastery. For ten years he gained familiarity with the abbey and the monks there. He then made the great heist in 866, returning to Conques with the remains and housed them in a wooden statue plated in gold known as a reliquary. As a result, the route of pilgrimage shifted to include their abbey, and they soon prospered. Pilgrims would leave jewels to be added to her reliquary and goldsmiths competed to add to it as well.

St. Foy is known to be quite the active saint, channeling her reliquary in the field of intervention, healing and miracles. However, she also played practical jokes and demanded offerings, to the degree of punishing doubters and cynics. History has shown that she was only twelve when she was martyred, so theories developed that her maturity never developed to that of a grown woman, causing these trickster tendencies in the afterlife. St. Foy is contained in her golden reliquary in the Abbey of Conques to this day, still attracting pilgrims.

The Reliquary Statue of St. Foy 12

Then and Now:A Comparison of our Production of Incorruptible and the

Artwork of the Era

The Middle Ages:

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Our Design - Scenery:


Artwork of the Era

Renderings and Plans by James Kronzer, Scenic Designer

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Artwork of the Era

Our Production - Scenery:



First Act:Darker, Dirtier, Derelict

Second Act:Brighter, Cleaner, Improved

15Cast of Incorruptible

Our Design - Costumes:


Artwork of the Era

Designs by, Lauren Perigard, Costume DesignerSketches by Jill Keys, Assistant. 16


Artwork of the Era

Our Production - Costumes:

Alex Keiper and Michael Doherty

Ian Merrill Peakes, Michael Doherty, and Alex Keiper

Ian Merrill Peakes, Michael Doherty and Sam Sherburne


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Discussion Questions(SPOILER ALERT!!!)

“Asking is speaking and speaking is done ONE AT A TIME.” –Brother Martin

1. Charles and Martin’s methodologies differ strongly at the beginning of this play. Charles places importance in faith while Martin’s skepticism promotes taking initiative. What is the merit in these principles? Do you think one has more merit than the other? Are they codependent on each other? Explain.

2. When Marie and Jack make their appearance, Marie does not feel comfortable performing in the Abbey. Why do you think this is? Given what you learn from Jack, do you think it a sign of forebod-ing? Why or why not?

3. We witness these monks asking and committing some questionable deeds, but with the intent to do some good. Is this justified? To what degree?

5. Marie reveals to Jack that she is pregnant in the second act. Based on what we learn, why do you think Marie and Jack decide not to marry? Have Jack’s reasons changed since the first act?

4. Jack has a rather quick change of heart in the second act, going from being held against his will to actually defending his captors. What do you think caused it? Does it have anything to do with Question 4? Do you think it is genuine? Explain.

6. When we finally meet Agatha later in the second act, she has stumbled onto the Abbey’s secret and insinuates that Charles was “always making your bread go just a little farther.” What does she mean by this? What does it mean to Charles?

7. Charles confesses his concerns to Jack— about his past and his theories as to why St. Foy has not been active for the past thirteen years. His faith is dwindling. What do you think faith truly is? What do you think is the role of faith is in this play?

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Learn More:Incorruptible Study Guide Sources

Life and Work in the Middle Ages:

The Catholic Church in the Middle Ages:

Incorruptibles, St. Foy, and Other Relics:

Allegories:

Our Production and Our Playwright:

http://literarydevices.net/allegory/

The Church in Medieval Life - PDF

Catholic Inluence - PDF

The Finer Times - http://www.thefinertimes.com/Middle-Ages/church-in-the-middle-ages.html

Bluffton University - https://www.bluffton.edu/~sullivanm/france/conques/stefoy/indexintro.html

Sacred Destinations - http://www.sacred-destinations.com/france/conques-abbey

Cult and Culture - http://cultandculture.org/culture/index.php/issues/22-culture-2011-spring-issue/53-trickster-child-and-celestial-virgin.html

New Advent - http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/12734a.htm

Encylopedia Britannica

Feminae: A Medieval and Women and Gender Index from the University of Iowa

Mystics of the Church - http://www.mysticsofthechurch.com/2010/04/saints-that-are-incorruptable.html#sthash.rTqrSLSA.dpuf

Lords and Ladies - www.lordsandladies.org

Castles of Britain - http://www.castles-of-britain.com/medievaljobs.htm

The International History Project

The Science of Bread-Making - www.scienceofbreadmaking.com

Arden Theatre Company Website Blog - http://www.ardentheatre.org/2014/hollinger.html

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Documents

Incorruptible Study Guide