MERITATEN
Egyptian Temple Interior Setting

A classical tragedy presented in its original setting: the ancient Egyptian city of Amarna, 3000 years ago.

Young Meritaten, inherits the throne of Egypt after her mother Pharaoh Nefertiti is murdered. High priest Ay desires to become Pharaoh by marrying his lame son Smenkhkara to the young queen then appointing himself the couple’s protector.

When Aye has the tomb and temples of her father Akhenaten destroyed and leaves his body to rot in the desert, Meritaten, against the usurper’s decree, buries the body to preserve her father’s eternal spirit and a conflict of dangerous proportions erupts between the power of the monarchy and that of the sacred religion.

Ay declares Meritaten a heretic and sentences her to imprisonment for eternity in a tomb, but she refuses to bend to the high priest’s will and, to his surprise, his selfishness threatens the lives not only of those he would manipulate but also his own family.