Mona Fastvold, director of the spirited film The Testament of Ann Lee, characterizes it as a “speculative retelling” of the life of its namesake, the founder of the Shakers. While the Shakers are predominantly recognized today for their furniture, particularly their signature practice of hanging chairs on walls when not in use, the movie—which premiered its fall festival circuit in Venice and continued in Toronto—explores the intriguing beginnings of this religious group, with Ann Lee at its core.
The film, a musical, was co-written by Fastvold and her partner Brady Corbet around the time of their previous project, The Childhood of a Leader. This genre might appear unconventional, but the Shakers distinguished themselves through their spontaneous movements (hence the name “shaking”), singing, and dancing during prayer, making the musical format an apt choice. The numbers unfold with impressive, intricate choreography as the Shakers move vigorously, aiming to purify their minds and bodies of sin. The songs themselves drew inspiration from authentic Shaker hymns from the 1700s.
Ann Lee was born in Manchester, England, on February 29, 1736. As the second of eight children, Lee grew up in a large family, and 18th-century living conditions meant her entire family slept in a single room. Because of this, she frequently witnessed her parents having sex, an experience that instilled in her a profound aversion to physical intimacy. Lee was not one to conceal her emotions, often voicing her disapproval of things, which regularly resulted in punishments from her father.
Lee lived near Manchester’s Christ Church of the Church of England but struggled to comprehend their doctrines, never feeling a sense of belonging within the dominant religion. In 1758, she encountered James and Jane Wardley, who hosted meetings in their home as Shaking Quakers, where they preached radical concepts that diverged from the prevailing Church of England. Among these ideas was the belief that chanting and dancing could purify the body of sin. Even more revolutionary was the conviction that in the second coming, God would manifest as a woman. After a lifetime of feeling out of place, Lee discovered a community that fully embraced her—to such an extent that they believed Lee herself to be the second coming of God, bestowing upon her the title of Mother Ann.
Lee married Abraham Standarin on January 5, 1761. The marriage was troubled, not only due to Ann’s distaste for physical intimacy but also because all four of her children tragically died in infancy. This led her to have a vision that would establish the fundamental principle of the Shakers. Lee declared that to attain true purity and be free from sin, one must commit to a lifetime of celibacy. Lee would later advocate for the elimination of all marriages within the Shakers, dissolving her own marriage to Standarin in the process.
Lee also rejected any notion of gender roles, advocating for complete social equality irrespective of gender or race. This naturally made her an adversary of the Church of England, which condemned her as a heathen and confined her to a mental asylum. Upon her eventual release, Lee and a small contingent of her followers journeyed to America to disseminate their gospel, convinced that the people of Manchester were corrupted by the teachings of the Church of England. There are various conflicting accounts of when she presented her case to the Church for release from the asylum. Some claim she spoke in 12 different languages, while others assert she commanded an astonishing 72 mother tongues. Although it’s impossible to confirm what Lee precisely did that day, what is certain is that those who heard her plea were so profoundly moved that they granted her freedom from the asylum.
For visual inspiration and to elaborate on Lee’s story, partly due to the scarcity of information about her life before her relocation to America, Fastvold and Corbet found significant value in Baroque and religious artwork. “We studied Caravaggios and other Old Masters for the dramatic colors, lighting, and intensity they convey when we needed to fill in the gaps of her story,” Fastvold notes in the film’s press materials. “Once we reconstructed what we believe happened in Ann’s early years…we then tracked her journey to America, where her life was extensively documented by the early Shakers.”
On May 19, 1774, Lee and her fellow Shakers departed Liverpool for America. After an extensive and arduous search for a location to establish their community of worship, they found a place in Albany County, New York, and built their village, which became known as Niskayuna. There, people adhered to Lee’s stringent guidelines for a better life, including celibacy and the ceaseless pursuit of perfection in all aspects of their existence. Lee and her brother William preached widely to attract people to their cause (a necessity, given the requirement of lifelong celibacy) and their quest for a utopian society devoid of all sin. The Shakers earned income by manufacturing and selling furniture, but they did not demand money from their members to be part of the Shaker movement.
Although Lee and the Shakers were free from persecution in America, they encountered similar challenges to those they had faced in England. Lee’s steadfast, unwavering belief in pacifism clashed with the American Revolutionary War. She refused to permit her followers to participate in the war efforts, which led to an assault on the Shakers in 1783. The Testament of Ann Lee unfolds in multiple chapters from birth to death, illustrating Ann’s courage, as well as her absolute and complete conviction in her cause and movement. Even when her life was repeatedly imperiled, she never once faltered or wavered.
“What I personally connected with in Ann’s journey,” Fastvold continues in the press notes, “was the concept of establishing a society not for personal gain or wealth but with the intent of living within a space where she could dedicate herself to work. Labor was a fundamental aspect of her vision.” Indeed, Ann labored tirelessly throughout her entire life, building, preaching, and committing herself physically and mentally to spreading the word of God until her death at the age of 48 in 1784.
Lee did not live to witness the zenith of the Shaker movement, which occurred in 1840 with 6,000 practicing members. Since a core tenet of the Shakers was lifelong abstinence, these numbers have naturally diminished. As of today, there is one active Shaker community globally: Sabbathday Lake Shaker Village, in Maine. It is a small village, with only two practicing Shakers. However, just a few weeks ago, a new Shaker joined the community, increasing the number of practicing Shakers by 50%.
