The Jeweler's Shop

Description

Love is "one of the greatest dramas of human existence," writes Pope John Paul II. In this illuminating three-act play--here in the only English translation authorized by the Vatican--he explores relationships between men and women, the joys--and the pain--of love and marriage. The action unfolds in two settings at once: a street in a small town, outside the local jeweler's shop (people go to buy their wedding rings there), and the mysterious inner landscape of personal hopes and fears, loves and longings. Each act focuses on a different couple: the first happily planning their wedding, the second long-married and unhappy, the third about to marry but full of doubts. Writing with power and understanding about a love that survives the grave, a love that has withered and died, a love budding out of complexes and insecurities, the Pope addresses such fundamental human concerns as: What does it mean to fall in love? When do we know that a love is real--and can it last? If it dies, how do we go on living--and loving again? There are no easy answers, and there is no happy ending--such is the nature of men and women, and such is the nature of love--but there is hope, if we only acknowledge our need and accept the risks of a deep and lasting commitment. This is a play full of wisdom on a subject of great relevance to all, and it provides a special insight into the thoughts of the man who, like no other, has captured the imagination of people of all faiths throughout the world. The Jeweler's Shop has been made into a full-length movie now available on video. Karol Wojtyla--Pope John Paul II--has long been involved with the theater. As a student of literature, then priest, bishop and archbishop, he acted, directed, wrote dramatic criticism, made a Polish translation of Sophocles' Oedipus Rex , and has authored six plays. Review: Meditative three-act play on marriage by Pope John Paul II - A rarity, this book is a three-act stage drama written by a Roman Catholic pope. Pope John Paul II, 1920-2005, was active in the theater as a young man in Poland until the Nazi occupation closed his university when he was 19. As a member of the Rhapsodic Theater, John Paul II (real name Karol Wotylja) helped put on secret readings and productions as a form of cultural resistance during the Nazi occupation, before deciding to join an underground seminary during the war. Later as a bishop and cardinal, he wrote theatrical criticism pieces under a pseudonym. This play represents his only published play and is a fascinating piece of meditative drama. The first act follows a couple in love about to be married, the second act follows a married couple whose love has grown cold, and the third act concerns the two children of the first two couples who are in love and hoping to be married. A mysterious jeweler unites the three couples, dispensing wisdom about fate in addition to wedding bands. This play was made into a 1988 film with Burt Lancaster, Ben Cross, and Olivia Hussey. Like the late pope's "Theology of the Body," this play extols the virtues of married love as a reflection of God's eternal love, offering an optimistic view of human relations where "the future depends on love." Each scene is a series of minimally staged, almost monologue-driven scenes between the couples done in underground theatrical style with a literary debt to medieval mystery dramas. It's a pretty good play and a pretty good read, offering a lot of food for thought in what is essentially (to quote the title) a "meditation on the sacrament of matrimony." Review: Love is more then One but Two!!! - Such a great book that trace Love from within. If you are ready to cry and be loved at the same time, I would get a copy for you and those who you Love.-RDMK