By Ernest Kearney — Frankly, I have always thought that Christopher Durang’s 1979 play, Sister Mary Ignatius Explains it All for You, was a lousy piece of playwriting – melodramatic, lacking in subtlety with sloppy crafted and painfully heavy handed themes.
However, my opinion isn’t worth beans, because when push comes to shove, Durang is damn funny, his play is damn funny, that big nun is damn funny, and if you’ve got “funny” you can get away with a lot.
Funny trumps everything.
Hell, if Hitler could have figured out a way of making the blitzkrieg into a laugh-fest he could have gotten away with overrunning all of Europe.
Director Jeramiah Peay has devised a smart and very serviceable set on which to release Durang’s antics and conducts them ably.
Chris Ramiez, Shayna Gabrielle, Lea Madda and William Potter play Sister Mary Ignatius’ former students, who show up intending on a final showdown with the nun who terrorized them as children; only to find that she is quite capable of terrorizing them as adults.
Potter gives his all as Aloysius, whose overactive bladder goes into warp drive in Sister Mary Ignatius’ presence.
Gabrielle —having the most difficult part in Durang’s piece, in which the melodramatic elements generally short-circuit the compassion one should feel for her pain— rises above the flaws in the writing and infuses humanity into Durang’s cartoon character.
Young Thomas, representing the next generation in danger of being ruined by the dogma dispensed by the play’s titular harpy in a habit, is well-played by Liam Risinger.
As Sister Mary Ignatius, Michael Mullen carries the weight of the whole show on his shoulders and manages this with the aplomb of Atlas in drag.
A very shiny…
GOLD MEDAL.
Sister Mary Ignatius Explains it All for You
playing during Hollywood Fringe Festival 2022
AT
VENUE:
studio/stage
520 N. Western Ave
SCHEDULE:
Saturday June 18 2022, 3:30 PM
Saturday June 18 2022, 3:30 PM
Monday June 20 2022, 9:00 PM
Monday June 20 2022, 9:00 PM
Friday June 24 2022, 9:00 PM
(There are also virtual performances for June 18, 20 and 24)
For Additional Information and Tickets:
www.hollywoodfringe.org/projects/7575
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