The time is the Dark Ages and the place England, as Ymma, a young noblewoman in exile from Normandy, arrives on the shores of Canterbury. Passionate, brilliant, fiery, and beautiful, Ymma quickly offends Ethelred, England's narrow-minded king. As punishment, he commands her to marry Silence, a fourteen-year-old lord who longs to become a warrior. Quickly, the newlyweds conspire to take advantage of their mismatched marriage, reaching an agreement that grants them both their freedom. Ymma and Silence set out on the open road, but as Viking warriors threaten the shores of England, as the new millennium dawns and the faithful wonder if the apocalypse is at hand, the young couple's strength is tested. Smart, sexy, silly, and overflowing with ideas, Silence interweaves youthful adventure with a profound meditation on questions of identity, freedom, religion, nationalism, and the possibilities of faith and tolerance in an uncertain world.

by Moira Buffini
New England Premiere
directed by Rick Lombardo**

Cristina Todesco***, scenic design
Frances Nelson McSherry***, costume design
Christopher Ostrom***, lighting design
Rick Lombardo, sound design
Matthew CW Page, properties design
Ted Hewlett, fight choreographer
Carola Morrone*, production stage manager

CAST (in order of appearance)
Marianna Bassham*, Ymma
Anne Gottlieb*, Agnés
Christopher Michael Brophy*, Eadric
Emily Sproch*, Silence
Michael Kaye*, Roger
Lewis D. Wheeler*, Ethelred

*member of Actors’ Equity Association, the union of professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States
**member of Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers, Inc., an independent national labor union
***member of United Scenic Artists, Local USA 829

First performed by Birmingham Repertory Theatre on October 18th, 1999.