A Portrait of Mary

Step into a fresh perspective of Mary’s life—one brushstroke at a time.

In this thoughtful monologue, an actor leads the audience through an imaginative "painting" of Mary, the mother of Jesus. Using vivid words and heartfelt reflection, the story explores Mary’s humanity, faith, humility, and enduring strength—offering a portrayal that resonates for any season, not just Christmas.

With a simple stage, minimal props, and no special costuming, this powerful piece is easy to stage yet deeply moving for all who experience it.

Cast:    1

Bible Reference:  Luke 2

Set:  bare

Lighting:  spotlights and scrim set

Sound:   wireless mics if available

Song:  none

SFX: none

Costumes:  standard

Props:  none

Special Instructions:  monologue

Time:  20

Sample script:

[ACTOR enters stage. Walks about for a few seconds, looking at the picture frame from several vantage points. Looks around, surprised, suddenly “sees” the audience.]

ACTOR:
Oh, you startled me. I didn't know anyone was here tonight. Seeing this empty picture frame made me think about painting a picture. (Pauses, looks out into audience, chuckles). Oh no, don't get me wrong! I'm no artist! But I often do paint pictures in my mind. 
Don't you do that sometimes?

I was just thinking about something that happened to me recently. Sometimes, when I'm doing my devotions, I like to key in on characters in the Bible. But often, I find it frustrating that so little information is available from which to draw. And I think, now if this was one of the major characters in Scripture it would be so much easier to document the life and the characteristics of that person. I often have to fight the temptation to take the easy route — skipping over the "bit players" in the Bible and jumping straight to the major characters. Take Peter, for example. I enjoy studying Peter. I feel like I have a pretty good sense of his personality and what makes him tick. The same goes for Mary, the mother of Jesus — I feel somewhat familiar with her as well.

Not long ago, I found myself unsure of what to focus on for my next devotional study. And… well, I got a little lazy. I figured, why not choose a major character? Who better than Mary, the mother of Jesus? The Bible is full of references to her — surely I could put together a meaningful study without too much extra effort. (Chuckles to self.)

Or at least, so I thought!

Like most people, I knew a great deal about Mary. My mind seemed to hold a vivid impression of Mary, a kind of mental portrait of her. In my mind, it appeared that the New Testament is full of references to Mary. But let me share with you the path I took and how a new portrait developed. A portrait of a Mary, which I really had never known before, developed as I researched her life. I just had a thought! Maybe we could go through this process together. We could try to paint a portrait, in word and in thought, of Mary, the mother of Jesus.

So that we start with a fresh canvas, let's try to clear our minds of the traditional images of Mary that we have seen over the years. That way, we can paint our own portrait, right here, from scratch.

Just what would Mary's portrait look like if hung right here, on this wall . . .

Want to see how the story unfolds? DramaShare members get this complete script— and access to our entire library—free! Not a member? You can still grab this individual script and bring it to life.