The Testament of Ann Lee

Ann Lee is born in Manchester in 1736 ("The Testament of Ann Lee"). During childhood, she and her younger brother William work at a cotton factory. One night, she witnesses her parents having sex and associates the act with sin; during a meal, she says she knows what her father does to her mother, and her father beats her hands with a switch. As she grows older, she becomes more pious and takes a job as a cook at a local infirmary. One day, she, William, and their niece Nancy visit the home of Jane and James Wardley, Quakers who preach that Jesus's Second Coming will be a woman and embrace public confession of sin and impromptu shouting, dance, and song as part of worship. Ann becomes a fixture within the group of "Shaking Quakers" and marries fellow believer Abraham ("Worship"). Ann's trepidations around sex are worsened by her husband's interest in sadomasochism and oral sex as well as the tragic death of all four of their children in early infancy ("Beautiful Treasures"). Eventually, the Shakers sufficiently unnerve the locals and disturb the peace, including interruption of a church service, that authorities arrest Ann and imprison her for 14 days. During this time, she refuses to eat or drink ("I Never Did Believe"). She has a vision of herself levitating, and of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, which she takes to mean that original sin was fornication and therefore humanity must abstain from marriage and sex ("Hunger and Thirst"). She shares this with other Shaker leaders and they determine she must be the female Messiah they were awaiting, renaming her "Mother Ann." William ends his secret homosexual relationship with his lover, cuts his hair as Ann directed, and commits to supporting her. After an angry crowd injures Ann and her followers, they elect to leave Britain for New England, funded by Hocknell, a wealthy farmer. They sail aboard the Mariah. During the voyage, Nancy becomes enamored with new convert Richard, Hocknell's son ("Today Today"). Despite sometimes threatening mockery of their rituals by the crew, Ann helps keep up morale during a violent storm and earns the crew's respect ("All is Summer"). Upon arriving in New York City, Ann sends William and other men north to find land for their community. The men are guided by a vision experienced by Hocknell after three days of prayer which includes his finger wagging uncontrollably; this shaking digit points him to the meadowland site ("John's Running Song"). During the months spent waiting to hear back from the men, Nancy, following an assignation with Richard in a privy discovered by his father, leaves the community to marry Richard. Abraham leaves Ann, frustrated with their marriage and lack of sex, after bringing another woman into Ann's bedroom and having that woman perform oral sex on him while Ann turns her back in disgust. That spring, Ann and the others rejoin William in Niskayuna where they have begun developing a settlement. William is sent out to preach at other established communities ("Bow Down O Zion"). The population of Niskayuna steadily grows with converts and foundling children who are adopted into the community ("I Love Mother"). This number also shows the development of the Shaker aesthetic in furniture and architecture as well as some of the items invented by Shakers. Ann is arrested by the Continental Army for insisting their community remain neutral during the war ("Stone Prison"). After being freed by the sympathetic Governor of New York George Clinton, she travels around New England, establishing Shaker communities, though some people suspect her of witchcraft. Ann recruits new followers at a local farm where they are attacked by an angry mob. The farm is burned down and several Shakers are beaten, some fatally so. Ann, while telling the Shakers not to retaliate, is stripped naked below the waist by men who question her gender, calling her "eunuch" and "it" before pronouncing that she "has the proper parts" but is not a woman. They also accuse her of witchcraft. Badly injured, Ann recalls her childhood with William during their journey home ("Down to the Deep"). William dies shortly after, while prominent follower (and the movie's narrator) Mary is blinded in her left eye. A year later, Ann, who never recovered from the attack, dies at age 48. She is buried in the village, now a thriving and self-sustaining religious community ("Beautiful Treasures Funeral"). The credits mention the peak population of various Shaker communities (estimated at 6,000 in 1840), and that there are only two Shakers left as of July 2025 ("Clothed by the Sun"). ==Cast==