Word: sisters
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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ALTHOUGH IT HAS been denounced by almost every religious group in Boston and by several politicians including Mayor Flynn Christopher Durang's black comedy Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All For You is hardly worth the hype. In fact, the picketers outside the Charles Playhouse who charge the play with being a "vile diatribe against all things Catholic" may be their own worst enemy. Without their help this poorly directed version of Durang's limited comedy would probably just wither away into theatrical oblivion...
...play begins with Sister Mary Ignatius, played aptly by Elizabeth Franz, calmly explaining Catholic beliefs as if they were so many geometry theorems. Franz is the best part of the evening, bringing an understated madness to her part which save it from becoming, mere caricaturization. Explaining the difference between venial and mortal sins, Sister Mary lists sex outside of marriage, masturbation and hijacking as some of the more serious offenses. A parody of the Catholic belief that suffering is good, her eyes twinkle in delight as she explains in gory detail Christ's sufferings on the cross. Further, she insists...
...kind of Oliver Twist-flavored Hollywood punk, Piper (George Olden) does not like the Bleeding purportedly Catholic orphanage run by the sadistic Sister Serena (Ann De Salvo). Twentieth-century America being the breadbasket of the world and all, Piper has enough food--so much so that he uses the mashed potatoes as an ashtray-but lacks the respect accorded even laboratory test animals...
...tackiness represented by the taxi cab Yellow Mercedes, Santa Barbara suburbanites Gladys and Warren Fitzpatrick (Karen Black and Martin Mull) come to buy a child from the Sacred Heart. "We tried a dog." Exuding the charm of a used car salesman and the taste of John Rivers, Sister Serena markets her "kids" like a Romco television ad. "How about a conversation piece?" she asks, singling out her single Black charge. "Something South of the Border?" Our caricatured Ozzie and Harriet demur. "We already have a gardener." Finally they take Mouse, and Piper in short order leads what has become...
...native has acted in or even auditioned for a movie. Although she was vice-president of the thespian troop at Churchill High School, Copaken never even thought about auditioning for movies until she met C. Thomas Howell, a teenage idol from the movie "The Outsiders". As Copaken's sister points out, it was the realization that "he was a normal kid too" that made Debbie think about becoming an actress...