True Mummy is a compelling drama, which presents provocative ideas and poses difficult questions connected to issues of life and death, morality and art, ritual versus utilitarianism, and the "opposing concepts of creation and desecration."

True Mummy refers to a black, luminous, clear glaze, the "best shellac in the history of art," that was made from the ash of cremated mummies.

What is sacred today - anything? Is any degree of desecration justified in the pursuit of truth and the creation of art? These are only a few of the questions posed in this provocative drama.

Praise for True Mummy:

"True Mummy breaks new ground in its use of the theatrical form to explore ideas and ask unanswerable questions" (The Vancouver Sun)

"It's rare to see a play as challenging as True Mummy. Its risks and successes are laudable" (The Georgia Straight)

"Condensed, yet redolent with high suspense, True Mummy presents a quick succession of emotionally charged confrontations between three characters ... brought unexpectedly together a propos of their own recent personal dealings with mortality, the loss of social ritual within society and the resulting confusion over the significance of death within modern culture ... Many of [Cone's] plays appear less as dramatic works in the conventional sense of theatrical writing than as complex, multi-layered tableaux vivants, his characters acting out artworks rather than social situations ... the primary outcome is a very substantial set of aesthetic questions: a life drama not resolved, so much as temporarily stilled, pending further discussion and reflection. Cone's plays present a remarkable talent for layering history, visual art, philosophy and contemporary social issues to produce works that must be consumed with care, given the complexity of their ingredients." (The Rain Review of Books)

Tom Cone is the author of numerous plays, operas, and librettos. While playwright-in-residence at the Stratford Festival, he premiered his play Stargazing and his adaptation of Goldoni's Servant of Two Masters. The musical adaptation of his play Herringbone has been produced in Chicago, New York, London, Philadelphia, Edinburgh, Vancouver, and the Hartford Stage starring Joel Grey. Tom is currently working on a new full-length play, Love Lies Bleeding. He lives in Vancouver.

Tom Cone's profile page