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THEATRE
Scene Two - Alexandria, Egypt, 2nd century A.D., during a persecution of Christians by the Emperor Hadrian.
Ephraim prays for release from his illness by a quick martyrdom
A sickly young Christian, seeking salvation through martyrdom, he is challenged by his mother, a member of a healing sisterhood, to accept treatment for his illness and continue to live. He rejects her skills as witchcraft.
A flash back shows how a priest influenced Ephraim so that he left his mother.
Ephraim later witnessed the martyrdom of the priest.
His mother, in her fear that he might kill himself, and believing that she is helping him drugs his water with a powerful sleeping draft.
In his drugged state Ephraim accidentally kills his mother as the Roman soldiers come to take him away.