The script is based on true events. In 1790, Mary Girard, the wife of wealthy financier Stephen Girard, was committed to a Pennsylvania hospital for the insane. Mary became pregnant by another man.
Historical accounts suggest Stephen desired to rid himself of Mary to openly live with his mistress, using the era's lack of women's rights to legally silence his wife.
: Represents the cold, bureaucratic institution that enables Mary's imprisonment.
It questions who decides what is "sane" when the sane are trapped in a mad world. the insanity of mary girard script pdf
: A six-person ensemble (four female and two male in Robertson's original script) that acts as a Greek chorus, portraying various characters from Mary's life and her internal tormentors.
In August 1815, Stephen orchestrated a mock trial in his own home. He gathered a jury of his own employees and associates. They deliberated for less than an hour. The verdict was unanimous: Mary Girard was "a lunatic." She was immediately shackled and taken to the asylum, where she would live in the basement of the hospital—at Stephen’s specific financial request—for the next 15 years until her death.
What is your in this project? (actor, director, student, or designer) Are you focusing on a particular scene or character? The script is based on true events
If you plan to stage the play for a public audience—even if you are not charging admission—you must apply for a performance license through Concord Theatricals to secure the rights and pay the required royalty fees per performance.
The play serves as a scathing indictment of the 18th-century legal and social systems that granted men absolute authority over women’s lives. At the time, a husband had the legal right to commit his wife to an asylum without a doctor's diagnosis, often using "insanity" as a tool to dispose of "inconvenient" women. This systemic oppression is personified by Stephen Girard, depicted as a cold, calculating figure who uses his immense wealth to bribe the hospital and ensure Mary remains trapped in a lunatic cell for the rest of her life. The "tranquilizing chair" Mary is strapped into—a real historical device designed by Dr. Benjamin Rush—becomes a physical manifestation of this rigid, unyielding power.
The play is based on the life of Mary Lum Girard, the wife of Stephen Girard, one of the wealthiest men in early American history. After becoming pregnant by another man in 1790, Mary was declared "legally insane" by her husband and confined to the basement of Pennsylvania Hospital. She spent the remaining 25 years of her life there. The insanity of mary girard pdf Historical accounts suggest Stephen desired to rid himself
While many educational websites and forums host unauthorized PDF uploads of The Insanity of Mary Girard , utilizing pirated scripts violates copyright laws and deprives the playwright of royalties.
, a wealthy and powerful Philadelphia financier, had his wife Mary committed to the "lunatic cell" at Pennsylvania Hospital. Though history notes Mary was pregnant by another man after years of childless marriage, Stephen used his influence and wealth to have her declared legally insane as a means of punishment and disposal. Mary Girard remained institutionalized for 25 years until her death in 1815. Plot & Theatrical Device: The Furies
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: Mary is tormented by a Greek chorus-like ensemble known as the Furies . These ghost-like figures represent both the other asylum patients and figments of Mary's imagination that impersonate people from her past.