Yosef and Maryam

Yosef and Maryam is a love story. It is a fictional account based on the historical New Testament characters of Joseph and Mary, the parents of Jesus. The original Aramaic names of these characters indicates that they are portrayed as ordinary humans, rather than ready-born saints. Mary had a paranormal vision about her conception, whereas Joseph only had a dream to go by. Mary was pre-informed, and even asked, whereas Joseph was faced with a fait accompli. There was also the anguish of the interlude between his hearing that his betrothed was pregnant by someone else, and his relief-bestowing dream. Also, he had to live the rest of his life knowing that his first-born was not really his; and this, in a Middle-Eastern village where probably one’s business was everybody’s business. Yosef and Maryam considers the struggle between different forms of Love: Romantic Parental , Love for one’s neighbour, and Love for God. It explores how these different emotions interact, and poses the question which ought to take precedence, should a choice have to be made. It is a story about the pain that must necessarily accompany all true love: the inevitable concomitant pain of jealousy, worry, fear, and loss.