The Abbess

The Abbess is a play by Athol Fugard (1932-).

The play

Based on an episode in the Life of Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179), a play about the nun, composer and author who was known as the 'Sybil of the Rhine'. The play focuses on an incident that occurred several months before her death in which Hildegard had been ordered to disinter and remove the body of a benefactor from the convent cemetery as he had been excommunicated from the church.

Characters: The Abbess - Eighty-one years old. A complex and contradictory personality, alternating between the image of a frail old woman and a figure of tremendous power and authority, capable of both abject humility and high-born arrogance. Guibert - A monk, the Abbess’s secretary and confessor. Scholarly and precise. Mid-thirties. Volmar - A memory. The Abbess’s former secretary, teacher and confidant, now deceased. Mid-seventies. Great depth of character and profundity. A beautiful human being. He has been dead for fifteen years. Richardis - Also a memory. Young and beautiful. At one time the Abbess’s favourite. She has been dead about thirty years.

Written for *** and produced by ** in California in 2000. First published in the South African Theatre Journal 2005.