The Red Tent (miniseries)

The Red Tent is a two-part, four-hour American television miniseries produced by Paula Weinstein and directed by Roger Young. The first episode premiered on Lifetime on December 7, 2014; the second episode aired on December 8, 2014. The series is based on the best-selling The Red Tent novel by Anita Diamant.^[1]

Plot

It is the time of the Old Testament patriarchs of the Book of Genesis. Dinah, the daughter of Leah and Jacob, chronicles her story, from her 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, Bilhah and Zilpah) 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 typically not allowed in the Red Tent.

In the backstory, Jacob requested to marry Rachel in return for his service to her father, Laban, only to discover that Rachel had switched places with Leah, fearing the consummation of marriage. Jacob then demanded the right to marry Rachel, along with Bilhah and Zilpah after informing Laban of the trick, although he was only pretending to be upset. Over the next several years, Leah, Bilhah, Zilpah give birth to several sons while Rachel remained childless until she finally gave birth to a son, Joseph, whom becomes Jacob's favorite son. Soon after, Dinah is born and is doted on by her family. Due to numerous conflicts between Jacob and Laban, Jacob takes his wives, children, and livestock, and departs to establish a new settlement. During which, they encounter his estranged older brother, Esau, and Dinah and the rest of the family meet her grandmother, Rebekah. However, Dinah finds her grandmother testy and ruthless towards lower-class civilians.

By a chance encounter in the city of Shechem, Dinah meets and falls in love with Prince Shalem, although Rachel warns her not to get involved with a prince. The two quickly decide to marry and consummate their "marriage" after receiving the King's approval. However, Jacob is angry that he has not been consulted, in conflict with the customs of the Israelite tribe. This also angers her brothers, Simeon and Levi, who feel she has been defiled and shamed their tribe by marrying without their father's consent. The brothers plot revenge by requesting that all the men of the city Shechem be circumcised as a bride pay, and while the men are defenseless, the brothers murder Shalem, his father, and every man in the city. Full of anger and grief, Dinah curses her father and brothers for their sins, and disowns them.

After discovering that she is pregnant, Dinah is taken to Thebes, Egypt with the Queen, and gives birth to a son. However, the Queen, blaming Dinah for the loss of her son, claims the baby as her own, names him Ra-Mose (Ray-Mose) although Dinah had originally named him Bar-Shalem meaning (sun of the sunset), and forbids Dinah from revealing the truth about the past to him. She is forced to live as a slave for the next ten years, unwilling to leave her son.

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 is discovered by the Pharaoh and convinces him that he is indeed a prophet by interpreting the Pharaoh's dream which foretells famine, and becomes the Vizier of Egypt, under the name Zaphnath-Paaneah. Upon Ra-Mose's return, the Queen, now dying, gives Dinah the shawl that Shalem had given her from their first meeting in an attempt of reconciliation. Then Ra-Mose finds out that Dinah is his mother, and her brothers murdered his father. He feels that she is as guilty as her brothers and wants nothing to do with her.

With her purpose for staying in Thebes lost, Dinah leaves to start a new life and later marries her second husband, Benia. However, she is summoned by Ra-Mose's master to help with the delivery of the child of his child due to her being a very skilled mid-wife and his wife having lost many children. The master turns out to be 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, but 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. Although Joseph refuses to listen, he finally relents and commutes Ra-Mose's punishment to banishment. Ra-Mose must assume a new name and he chooses Bar-Shalem after being told his true name in prison by his mother.

Shortly after, 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. Jacob is now 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 visits with Jacob in his final moments, although he doesn't remember why Dinah left, and dies as she cries in grief for her father's death.

Dinah later visits the tent to reminisce where she finds the wives of her brothers and their daughters and she sees that her mothers have kept her alive in the Red Tent. She leaves the Tent and the camp knowing that she will always have a place there with the memories and stories passed down through the generations.

Dinah is content with leaving her past behind her, and is at peace with the rest of her family, then returns to Egypt to live out the rest of her life.

Cast

• Rebecca Ferguson as Dinah^[1]
• Minnie Driver as Leah^[1]
• Morena Baccarin as Rachel
• Iain Glen as Jacob^[1]
• Debra Winger as Rebecca^[1]
• Vinette Robinson as Bilhah
• Agni Scott as Zilpah
• Will Tudor as Joseph^[1]
• Sean Teale as Prince Shalem
• Sammy Bennis as Benjamin^[1]

Production

Even though The Red Tent has been in development at Lifetime since 2011, production began in May of 2014.^[2] The miniseries was filmed on location in Morocco.

References

External links

• The Red Tent at the Internet Movie Database