Fatima the Play
Beverley Cains
Hardback, 88 pages, $24.95
ISBN 9781925501636
Mary, our heavenly mother always leads us to her son, Jesus. In 1917 she visited three
children in the small town of Fatima, Portugal, to share with them the message of salvation
for the world. ‘Fatima – The Play’ is aimed at engaging young people to experience
excitement in learning about their faith through the stories of ordinary children at an
extraordinary time. Not all can make a pilgrimage to Fatima or Lourdes, but many
Schools and Parish Groups will be able to simulate the wonders of the Apparitions of
Fatima for their Communities with some help from the new "Technagers"!!
“The play provides an accessible vehicle to share and understand this hundred-year-old
story using a modern scene transposed over the traditional story. The structure and
language of the play engages the students and provides a powerful introduction for
further discussion and investigation.”
-- Judy Spence, Principal, Holy Trinity School, Curtin, ACT
“Bev Cains’ Fatima play is an impressive re-enactment of an interior story. It dramatises
the religious faith of three children, which is tested by the scepticism of others until
it is finally shown to illuminate the darkness of their time – and now of our time
as well, in this centenary year of the apparitions of Our Lady. The play will engage
the interest of upper primary school children in particular. Not only are the main
characters appealing in their spiritual openness to the message of Fatima, but the
structure of the play provides many scenes for audience participation. It deserves
to be performed widely.“ -- Karl Schmude, Campion College
“Children tend to be open and interested in the supernatural and the Fatima Play helps
children to explore this realm. Mary our good mother is always leading us to her son
Jesus, which is the reason of her visit to the three little shepherds at Fatima last century.
Her message remains the same today – follow Jesus and pray. The play delivers Mary’s
message in a way children can enjoy as they participate. They will sense they are part
of something important which is much bigger than themselves. Many people aren’t
aware of Our Lady’s visits to her children – the Fatima Play shares the story in a way we
can all appreciate and learn.”
-- Anne Hartwell, Mothers Prayers Australia Coordinator
Fatima, The Play written by Beverley Cains is an excellent example of how to
employ the art of theatre in the propagation of the message from Fatima.
Whilst many of the older generation would be quite familiar with the story
of Fatima, this play is written in such a way that an audience of children
and adolescents are able to place themselves beside the three children;
Lucia, Francisco and Jacinta as they discover Our Lady and encounter
the captivating events that unfolded in the Portuguese village of Fatima
in 1917. The inclusion of a modern day child asking questions to a Priest
throughout the play makes for an almost dialogue-like audience interaction
with many key points of the play being highlighted along the way.
The children’s dialogue amongst each other throughout the play allows the
audience to experience the events of Fatima in the same childlike way that
the three children were able to. The audience are ready to weep and rejoice
with the children as they meet Our Lady face to face whilst truly coming
to a realisation of what an amazing miracle this truly was.
This play is particularly important this year, the 100th anniversary of
Apparitions of the Blessed Mother to the three shepherd-children:
Lucia, Francesco and Jacinta, of which the two latter are the newest and
the youngest saints of the Catholic Church. It is a call for the renewal
of interest in Our Lady’s requests and the effects of her apparitions
which are still resounding throughout the world, even today. Fatima,
The Play by Beverley Cains not only accommodates that call of reexamination,
but brings the story of Fatima to the future generations of
the Catholic Church. My hope is that parishes and schools, where this
play is performed, will be inspired to enter the school of Our Lady, where
She, the Teacher in the Spirit, shows us how to love God even more.
--Fr. Damian Mosakowski, osppe
Rector of the Diocesan Shrine of Our Lady of Mercy - Penrose Park
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