''The Red Tent'' is an American television
miniseries
A miniseries or mini-series is a television series that tells a story in a predetermined, limited number of episodes. "Limited series" is another more recent US term which is sometimes used interchangeably. , the popularity of miniseries format h ...
produced by
Paula Weinstein and directed by
Roger Young. The first two-hour episode premiered on
Lifetime on December 7, 2014; the second and final episode aired the next day. The series is based on the best-selling
novel of the same name by
Anita Diamant
Anita Diamant (born June 27, 1951) is an American author of fiction and non-fiction books."Anita Diamant." ''Contemporary Authors Online''. Farmington Hills, Mich.: Gale, 2015. Retrieved via ''Biography in Context'' database, 2017-09-22. She has ...
.
[About ''The Red Tent'']
at MyLifetime.com
Plot
It is the time of the
Old Testament patriarchs of the
Book of Genesis
The Book of Genesis (from Greek ; Hebrew: בְּרֵאשִׁית ''Bəreʾšīt'', "In hebeginning") is the first book of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Old Testament. Its Hebrew name is the same as its first word, ( "In the beginning") ...
.
Dinah
In the Book of Genesis, Dinah (; ) was the seventh child and only daughter of Leah and Jacob, and one of the matriarchs of the Israelites. The episode of her violation by Shechem, son of a Canaanite or Hivite prince, and the subsequent vengean ...
, the only daughter of
Leah
Leah ''La'ya;'' from (; ) appears in the Hebrew Bible as one of the two wives of the Biblical patriarch Jacob. Leah was Jacob's first wife, and the older sister of his second (and favored) wife Rachel. She is the mother of Jacob's first son ...
and
Jacob
Jacob (; ; ar, يَعْقُوب, Yaʿqūb; gr, Ἰακώβ, Iakṓb), later given the name Israel, is regarded as a patriarch of the Israelites and is an important figure in Abrahamic religions, such as Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. J ...
, chronicles her story from youth through adulthood. She narrates her relationship with her parents, aunts, and eleven older brothers. She often focuses on the significance of the Red Tent, occupied by the women of her tribe (including Jacob's other three wives
Rachel
Rachel () was a Biblical figure, the favorite of Jacob's two wives, and the mother of Joseph and Benjamin, two of the twelve progenitors of the tribes of Israel. Rachel's father was Laban. Her older sister was Leah, Jacob's first wife. Her aun ...
,
Bilhah
Bilhah ( "unworried", Standard Hebrew: ''Bīlha'', Tiberian Hebrew: ''Bīlhā'') is a woman mentioned in the Book of Genesis.For the etymology, see describes her as Laban's handmaid, who was given to Rachel to be her handmaid on Rachel's marria ...
and
Zilpah In the Book of Genesis, Zilpah ( he, ''Zīlpā'', meaning uncertain) was Leah's handmaid, presumed slave,In Context whom Leah gave to Jacob like a wife to bear him children (). Zilpah gave birth to two sons, whom Leah claimed as her own and name ...
) during their
time of menstruation. The women have kept alive their
old traditions of goddess-worship unbeknownst to their Israelite husbands, managing to keep this secret since men are not allowed in the Red Tent.
In the backstory, Jacob arrives at his uncle
Laban Laban is a French language, French surname. It may refer to:
Places
* Laban-e Olya, a village in Iran
* Laban-e Sofla, a village in Iran
* Laban, Virginia, an unincorporated community in the United States
* 8539 Laban, main-belt asteroid
People
...
's settlement to escape from his older brother
Esau
Esau ''Ēsaû''; la, Hesau, Esau; ar, عِيسَوْ ''‘Īsaw''; meaning "hairy"Easton, M. ''Illustrated Bible Dictionary'', (, , 2006, p. 236 or "rough".Mandel, D. ''The Ultimate Who's Who in the Bible'', (.), 2007, p. 175 is the elder son o ...
, and
falls in love at first sight with
his cousin Rachel. She reciprocates his feelings, as, secretly, does her sister Leah. Jacob asks Laban for permission to marry Rachel, offering his service to Laban in exchange. Rachel, fearing the
consummation
In many traditions and statutes of civil or religious law, the consummation of a marriage, often called simply ''consummation'', is the first (or first officially credited) act of sexual intercourse between two people, following their marriage t ...
of the marriage, switches places with her sister at the wedding. Jacob and Leah share a passionate bridal night. The next morning, he pretends to be upset, informs Laban of the trick, and demands the right to marry Rachel, now upping the stakes by claiming
Bilhah
Bilhah ( "unworried", Standard Hebrew: ''Bīlha'', Tiberian Hebrew: ''Bīlhā'') is a woman mentioned in the Book of Genesis.For the etymology, see describes her as Laban's handmaid, who was given to Rachel to be her handmaid on Rachel's marria ...
and
Zilpah In the Book of Genesis, Zilpah ( he, ''Zīlpā'', meaning uncertain) was Leah's handmaid, presumed slave,In Context whom Leah gave to Jacob like a wife to bear him children (). Zilpah gave birth to two sons, whom Leah claimed as her own and name ...
as compensation.
Over the next several years, Leah, Bilhah, Zilpah give birth to several sons. Rachel remains childless, until she finally has a son,
Joseph
Joseph is a common male given name, derived from the Hebrew Yosef (יוֹסֵף). "Joseph" is used, along with "Josef", mostly in English, French and partially German languages. This spelling is also found as a variant in the languages of the mo ...
, who becomes Jacob's favorite. Soon after, Dinah is born to Leah, and is doted on by her family as the only girl. The tension between Jacob and Laban reaches its climax following the suicide of Laban's abused wife. Jacob takes his wives, children, and livestock, and departs to establish a new settlement. They encounter his estranged older brother, Esau, and the matriarch,
Rebekah
Rebecca, ; Syriac: , ) from the Hebrew (lit., 'connection'), from Semitic root , 'to tie, couple or join', 'to secure', or 'to snare') () appears in the Hebrew Bible as the wife of Isaac and the mother of Jacob and Esau. According to biblical ...
. Dinah finds her grandmother testy and ruthless towards lower-class civilians. Rachel is a talented midwife and takes her niece as apprentice. In an altercation and power struggle, Jacob barges into the Red Tent, and seizes and destroys the ''
teraphim
Teraphim ( he, תְּרָף ''tərāf''; plural: he, תְּרָפִים ''tərāfīm'') is a Hebrew word from the Bible, found only in the plural, of uncertain etymology. Despite being plural, ''Teraphim'' may refer to singular objects, using the ...
'', the women's goddess figurines.
After settling near the city of
Shechem
Shechem ( ), also spelled Sichem ( ; he, שְׁכֶם, ''Šəḵem''; ; grc, Συχέμ, Sykhém; Samaritan Hebrew: , ), was a Canaanite and Israelite city mentioned in the Amarna Letters, later appearing in the Hebrew Bible as the first cap ...
, Dinah and Rachel are called to the palace to assist at a birth. Despite her aunt's warning to guard her honor, Dinah meets and falls in love with Prince Shalem, son of the king. The two quickly
decide to marry; the king approves, and the marriage is consummated. When he is told of this ''fait accompli'', Jacob is furious that he has not been consulted, as the customs of his tribe expect. Leah blames Rachel for putting romantic fantasies into Dinah's head. Dinah's brothers, Simeon and Levi, interpret the events as
seduction and defilement. All the men of the tribe feel insulted and dishonored. Shalem's father offers to pay any
bride price
Bride price, bride-dowry (Mahr in Islam), bride-wealth, or bride token, is money, property, or other form of wealth paid by a groom or his family to the woman or the family of the woman he will be married to or is just about to marry. Bride dow ...
they name, to make matters right, but they spurn his gifts. Joseph asks his brothers in exasperation if they want Prince Shalem's foreskin, and they seize on this suggestion, saying that the only thing that will satisfy their honor is for all the men of Shechem to be circumcised. Shalem and his father, to their surprise, agree, and all the men of the city undergo the operation. A couple of nights later, the brothers (but not Joseph) attack the palace while the men are in pain and unable to defend themselves, murdering Shalem, his father, and all the men they can find. Full of anger and grief, Dinah curses her father and brothers for their sins, and disowns them.
Dinah is pregnant, and her formidable mother-in-law, an Egyptian princess, takes her to safety in
Thebes. She gives birth to a son whom she names Bar-Shalem (son of the sunset). However, the Queen, blaming Dinah for the death of her son, claims the baby as her own, names him Ra-Mose and forbids Dinah from revealing the truth. Dinah tries to flee with her son but is caught and beaten into obedience. The Queen permits her to attend her son only as
wetnurse
A wet nurse is a woman who breastfeeds and cares for another's child. Wet nurses are employed if the mother dies, or if she is unable or chooses not to nurse the child herself. Wet-nursed children may be known as "milk-siblings", and in some cu ...
and
handmaid
A handmaiden, handmaid or maidservant is a personal maid or female servant. Depending on culture or historical period, a handmaiden may be of slave status or may be simply an employee. However, the term ''handmaiden'' generally implies lowly st ...
; she is forced to live as a slave for the next ten years, unwilling to leave him.
Simeon and Levi, jealous of Jacob's favoritism towards Joseph,
kidnap their brother and sell him into slavery, and then present his bloody coat as proof that he has been killed, devastating the family. After Ra-Mose is sent away to become a scribe, Dinah is released from the Queen's service, but she still chooses to stay in Thebes and waits another seven years for her son's return. In that time Joseph, who has the power of prophecy, is discovered by the Pharaoh; Joseph interprets his dream and is named the
Vizier
A vizier (; ar, وزير, wazīr; fa, وزیر, vazīr), or wazir, is a high-ranking political advisor or minister in the near east. The Abbasid caliphs gave the title ''wazir'' to a minister formerly called ''katib'' (secretary), who was a ...
of Egypt, under the name
Zaphnath-Paaneah
Zaphnath-Paaneah ( hbo, צָפְנַת פַּעְנֵחַ , grc, label= LXX, Ψονθομφανήχ ) is the name given by Pharaoh to Joseph in the Genesis narrative ().
The name may be of Egyptian origins, but there is no straightforward ety ...
. Ra-Mose returns to Thebes as the Queen is dying. She reconciles with Dinah by giving her the shawl that Shalem had given her at their first meeting. Ra-Mose discovers that Dinah is his mother, and that her brothers murdered his father. He feels that she is as guilty as they, and rejects her. With her purpose for staying in Thebes lost, Dinah leaves to start a new life.
She marries a kind man named Benia, and begins to practise midwifery again. One day she is summoned to the palace: the wife of the vizier is having a difficult labor. The person summoning her is her son Ra-Mose and the vizier turns out to be her brother Joseph. After Joseph's wife has given birth to a boy, Ra-Mose begs his mother for forgiveness and asks Dinah to tell him the history of her family. Later that night, Dinah and Joseph reunite for the first time in years. Joseph informs Dinah that their mothers have died; Leah died three years prior, peacefully in her sleep, and Rachel died giving birth to a son,
Benjamin
Benjamin ( he, ''Bīnyāmīn''; "Son of (the) right") blue letter bible: https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/h3225/kjv/wlc/0-1/ H3225 - yāmîn - Strong's Hebrew Lexicon (kjv) was the last of the two sons of Jacob and Rachel (Jacob's thir ...
. Overhearing their talk, Ra-Mose erroneously thinks that Joseph took part in his father's murder, and attempts to kill him before Dinah convinces him of his mistake. Enraged, Joseph orders his execution. Dinah pleads for her son to be spared and reminds Joseph of how much they have to carry the burden of their brothers' sins. At first Joseph refuses to listen, but finally relents and commutes the punishment to banishment. Ra-Mose must assume a new name, and chooses to take the one his mother had given him at birth, Bar-Shalem.
Shortly after, they learn that Jacob is dying and wishes to see all of his children. Dinah initially refuses to see her father, but moved by Joseph's words about putting the past to an end, she agrees. Traveling with her brother and husband, she arrives in
Migdal Eder and meets Benjamin for the first time. Dinah reconciles with Jacob in his final moments. Dinah visits the Red Tent to reminisce; the wives of her brothers and their daughters have kept her presence alive there. She leaves the Red Tent knowing that she will always have a place there with the memories and stories passed down through the generations. Finally at peace, she bids farewell to her extended family and returns to live the rest of her life at Thebes.
Cast
*
Rebecca Ferguson
Rebecca Louisa Ferguson Sundström (born 19 October 1983) is a Swedish actress. She began her acting career with the Swedish soap opera ''Nya tider'' (1999–2000) and went on to star in the slasher film ''Drowning Ghost'' (2004). She came to in ...
as
Dinah
In the Book of Genesis, Dinah (; ) was the seventh child and only daughter of Leah and Jacob, and one of the matriarchs of the Israelites. The episode of her violation by Shechem, son of a Canaanite or Hivite prince, and the subsequent vengean ...
*
Minnie Driver
Amelia Fiona Jessica "Minnie" Driver (born 31 January 1970) is an English actress. She rose to prominence with her break-out role in 1995's '' Circle of Friends''. She went on to star in a wide range of films including the cult classic ''Grosse ...
as
Leah
Leah ''La'ya;'' from (; ) appears in the Hebrew Bible as one of the two wives of the Biblical patriarch Jacob. Leah was Jacob's first wife, and the older sister of his second (and favored) wife Rachel. She is the mother of Jacob's first son ...
*
Morena Baccarin
Morena Silva de Vaz Setta Baccarin (; born 2 June 1979) is a Brazilian actress known for portraying Inara Serra in the sci-fi series '' Firefly'' and its follow-up film '' Serenity'', Vanessa in the superhero comedy franchise ''Deadpool'', Jessi ...
as
Rachel
Rachel () was a Biblical figure, the favorite of Jacob's two wives, and the mother of Joseph and Benjamin, two of the twelve progenitors of the tribes of Israel. Rachel's father was Laban. Her older sister was Leah, Jacob's first wife. Her aun ...
*
Iain Glen
Iain Alan Sutherland Glen (born 24 June 1961) is a Scottish actor. Glen is best known for his roles as Dr. Alexander Isaacs/Tyrant in three films of the ''Resident Evil'' film series (2004–2016) and as Ser Jorah Mormont in the HBO fantasy t ...
as
Jacob
Jacob (; ; ar, يَعْقُوب, Yaʿqūb; gr, Ἰακώβ, Iakṓb), later given the name Israel, is regarded as a patriarch of the Israelites and is an important figure in Abrahamic religions, such as Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. J ...
*
Debra Winger
Debra Lynn Wingerhttps://www.pressreader.com/usa/closer-weekly/20200511/282084868951188https://www.discountmags.com/magazine/closer-weekly-may-11-2020-digital/in-this-issue/99961 (born May 16, 1955)https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/The_Inter ...
as
Rebecca
Rebecca, ; Syriac: , ) from the Hebrew (lit., 'connection'), from Semitic root , 'to tie, couple or join', 'to secure', or 'to snare') () appears in the Hebrew Bible as the wife of Isaac and the mother of Jacob and Esau. According to biblical ...
*
Vinette Robinson
Vinette Robinson is a British actress, from Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. Her TV appearances include roles in '' Sherlock'', ''Black Mirror'', and as civil rights campaigner Rosa Parks in the ''Doctor Who'' episode "Rosa".
Early life
Robi ...
as
Bilhah
Bilhah ( "unworried", Standard Hebrew: ''Bīlha'', Tiberian Hebrew: ''Bīlhā'') is a woman mentioned in the Book of Genesis.For the etymology, see describes her as Laban's handmaid, who was given to Rachel to be her handmaid on Rachel's marria ...
* Agni Scott as
Zilpah In the Book of Genesis, Zilpah ( he, ''Zīlpā'', meaning uncertain) was Leah's handmaid, presumed slave,In Context whom Leah gave to Jacob like a wife to bear him children (). Zilpah gave birth to two sons, whom Leah claimed as her own and name ...
*
Will Tudor
William James Sibree Tudor (born 11 April 1987) is an English actor, known for his role as Olyvar in the HBO series ''Game of Thrones'' from 2013 to 2015. He has also appeared in the miniseries ''The Red Tent'', and the Channel 4 series ''Human ...
as
Joseph
Joseph is a common male given name, derived from the Hebrew Yosef (יוֹסֵף). "Joseph" is used, along with "Josef", mostly in English, French and partially German languages. This spelling is also found as a variant in the languages of the mo ...
*
Sean Teale
Sean Teale (born 18 June 1992) is a British actor, known for his roles as Prince Condé in ''Reign'', Nick Levan in '' Skins'', and Ben Larson in the Syfy series '' Incorporated.'' He also co-starred in the Fox sci-fi/drama series '' The Gif ...
as Prince Shalem
* Sammy Bennis as
Benjamin
Benjamin ( he, ''Bīnyāmīn''; "Son of (the) right") blue letter bible: https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/h3225/kjv/wlc/0-1/ H3225 - yāmîn - Strong's Hebrew Lexicon (kjv) was the last of the two sons of Jacob and Rachel (Jacob's thir ...
[
* ]Leigh Lawson
Allan Leigh Lawson (born 21 July 1945) is an English actor, director and writer.
Life and career
Lawson was born in Atherstone, Warwickshire. He initially studied at Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts before training further at the Royal Academ ...
as Laban
Production
Even though ''The Red Tent'' had been in development at Lifetime since 2011, production began in May 2014. The miniseries was filmed on location in Morocco
Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...
.
Reception
''The Red Tent'' was met with mixed to positive reviews. Review aggregator
A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...
website Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
reports a 75% approval rating with an average rating of 7.1/10 based on 12 reviews. The website's consensus reads, "While its premise isn't yet fully realized, ''The Red Tent'' boasts an appealing lead and enough energy to suggest greater promise." Metacritic
Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...
, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 57 out of 100, based on 12 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".
''The Hollywood Reporter
''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...
'' referred to ''The Red Tent'' as "an engaging and very well cast story of the triumph and resilience of the female spirit", but criticised the miniseries for casting white actors "exclusively in prominent and positive roles" while darker skinned actors were cast in more nefarious roles. Similarly, in her review for ''LA Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...
'', Mary McManara noted that parts of the miniseries "wander close to parody — Will Tudor's Joseph is a blue-eyed Botticelli in contrast to the Arabic swarthiness of his murderous brothers".
Writing for ''The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'', Neil Genzlinger noted that "fans of the novel will no doubt watch and revel in this relatively big-budget treatment. Others might find its pseudo-biblical, pseudo-feminist mix hard to take."
See also
*''Jacob
Jacob (; ; ar, يَعْقُوب, Yaʿqūb; gr, Ἰακώβ, Iakṓb), later given the name Israel, is regarded as a patriarch of the Israelites and is an important figure in Abrahamic religions, such as Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. J ...
''
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Red Tent, The (miniseries)
2010s American drama television miniseries
2014 American television series debuts
English-language television shows
Historical television series
Period television series
Television series by Sony Pictures Television
Films directed by Roger Young