Durang duo hilarious once again - for the right audience
By MICHAEL SMITH, 11/13/2004
Liz Masters plays the title character in "Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All to You." A. CUERVO / Tulsa World
Theater Club returns to the Tulsa stage with a pair of playwright Christopher Durang's short plays, and the result is a production that's going to provide laughs for all heathens in attendance.
At least that likely would be the critique of any of the Roman Catholic church's true believers, but they aren't going to attend this show anyway.
Others are likely to find much to chuckle about -- as well as think about -- in "Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All for You" and "The Actor's Nightmare," which opened Thursday night at Nightingale Theater.
Liz Masters has in the past proved her devotion to this playwright, and she produces this program for Theater Club. Durang's short plays on the local level are always best when Masters makes an appearance; we're happy to report she appears in both of these.
In fact, Masters is marvelous, a comic tower of power who clearly has long relished the idea of portraying the nun in this night's elite effort, and looking remarkably at home in a habit under Gary Dean Sweeney's direction.
But don't be fooled -- this is one wicked little sister.
The one-hour "Sister Mary" is the second play of the night, but it's first in our hearts, funny from the moment the nun brings out her comically sketched posters showing what awaits in heaven, hell, purgatory and limbo for all potential sinners and saints.
She instructs this catechism lecture with all due reverence to (mandatory bow ensues) "Our Lord Jesus Christ."
But there's room for cute moments with tiny student Thomas (an excellently drilled Will Hedgecock), as Sister Mary feeds him small treats for correctly answering questions about God and the commandments on cue.
Sister Mary explains that mortal sins -- the ones for which you'll burn if you don't cleanse your soul in confession -- are actions including murder, marital infidelity and masturbation. She pulls out her list of those already headed toward eternal damnation -- Roman Polanski is way up there -- and gleefully reminds that "we're adding to the list all the time."
The dogma is at turns serious and seriously humorous, with Sister Mary admitting that in the effort to scrub the world clean of sin, she "might be tempted to wipe out entire civilizations and cities, but lucky for New York and Amsterdam, I'm not God."
But she has to wonder about the effectiveness of her teachings when a group of former students -- in her charge about 20 years before -- arrive for a reunion of sorts.
Their initial act is to re-create a hilarious pageant from their long-ago classes, briefly telling the story of Jesus' birth and death, with dialogue that quotes Sister Mary's teachings and a singing camel to help tell the tale on a child's level.
But this is just the opening act for these past pupils who make up quite a guilt-filled quartet. There's a woman who's had two abortions, an unwed mother, a gay man and a faithful husband and father who regularly attends mass -- but he's also an alcoholic who's recently been beating his wife and considering suicide.
"Well, at least one of my students turned out OK," Sister Mary says honestly, dismissing the man's troubles as "venial sins," considered minor offenses by the Catholic church that won't deprive him of entering heaven.
It's a hilarious moment but also a flashpoint that drives home a fact: This is comedy to be appreciated by those who aren't "practicing" Catholics and almost certain to be offensive to the Pope's faithful flock.
Not to mention a brutal conclusion that's again going to be an outrageous hoot to most who choose to attend and quite the opposite for those arriving uninformed.
But prior to "Sister Mary's" entrance, the night's additional cast -- Mike Grove, Veronica Combs, Heather Brooker and Rich Bentz -- pulls double duty in presenting Durang's "The Actor's Nightmare," an amusing trifle.
George Spelvin (Grove) is thrust onto a stage minutes before curtain -- the star is ill this evening -- for a performance for which he's never rehearsed. Oh, and he's not an actor; he's an accountant. He thinks.
This absurdist premise's curtain rises on what first appears to be a melodramatic Noel Coward piece (in which George in stuck in a love triangle with two women who slap him often), then a bit of "Hamlet" (this is the one he's costumed for) and finally some Samuel Beckett.
George is a game fellow, improvising and pulling out quotes from Shakespeare's collected works, the Pledge of Allegiance and anything else that immediately comes to mind with which he might entertain his audience.
It's a risible look at the terrifying prospect of an impromptu performance under confusing conditions, and Grove is good, with excellent support from Combs.
But director Susan Webb's offering would have been more diverting if this emergency actor had actually been terrified.
On the contrary, George seems to be enjoying himself, as if he's delighted with someone's inside joke, something not nightmarish at all -- or at least, not until a bloody conclusion that involves the business end of an executioner's axe.
But this 35-minute piece is the appetizer among Durang's two works, the opener for "Sister Mary," in which Masters serves up both the entree and dessert.
Theater Club's presentation of "Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All for You" and "The Actor's Nightmare" continues with 8 p.m. performances Saturday, Thursday-Friday and Nov. 20 at Nightingale Theater, 1416 E. Fourth St. Tickets are available by calling 557-8012 or via e-mail at theatreclubtulsa@yahoo.com.