Dennis Wemm
THEATRE CRITIC
Nunsense
Written by Dan Goggin; Directed by Gregg Stull
Klein Theatre, November 7-24, 2024
And the crowd went wild, as they do for nuns. Remember in the days when nuns sang, flew, worried about how to solve their “problem sisters,” and saved the spirits of the lost and confused? Well, here they sing, dance, and clown while reveling in the freedom that comic performers have.
As has happened with every UMW Theatre production I’ve experienced, I completely lost track of time.
The theme? An unlikely group puts on a show to make money for a worthy cause. Food poisoning has wiped out 52 members of the order, which is now deeply in need of new recruits. Also, because the Reverend Mother has purchased a big screen TV there was only enough money left for 48 burials. The last four sisters are occupying the food freezer, and the inspectors are on their way. Desperation ensues.
Of course, a show featuring five women wearing black and white outfits that cover up all but their faces and hands is going to have its limits. They do sing and dance, well and with spirit (the only dad joke I’ll engage in during this review—sorry). The trick is to maintain the energy while maintaining the onstage reality of the situation.
Farce is from a French term for “to stuff” and the nuns do stuff a lot of good-natured fun into two hours of farcing.
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Preshow and during intermission the five sisters work the audience as fundraisers. They maintain character and respond “in the moment” in addition to doing set pieces (cheering competitions in the audience, asking who’s Catholic, etc.)
The performances are lovably and desperately clumsy; and full of spirit and energy. We meet and learn about each of nuns and their relationships in the order. As all that goes on we learn about what makes them take to this life.
Farce engages in easily understood characters. This leads to “typing”: Mother Superior Mary Regina (Amelia Emory) is smart and controlling; the biggest sister of the group both politically and physically, something. Sister Mary Hubert (Cora Denny) never lets her forget. Hubert is Jan Brady to Regina’s Marcia: compliant but fuming and sniping with a smile. Her byplay with Regina sets up a slightly darker undertone to the relationships of the nuns while never losing the “fun nun” vibe.
Sister Robert Anne (Emmy Beach) is a street smart Jersey girl outsider with Chuck Taylors under her habit. She’s younger and a bit rebellious, her ways are “different.” Her plays with her habit in hilarious ways that help her make connections with her students. The character is an irrepressible performer.
Sister Mary Amnesia lost her memory when a crucifix fell on her head and spends her time walking (and talking and singing) in confusion and a certain sweet joy. Her apotheosis is a revelation that the sweet joy was really there before the convent and crucifix.
Sister Mary Leo is a novice whose fun and lovely dances earn Regina’s exasperated glares-which she manages to ignore as much as she can. She makes her habit look joyful.
The only nasty nun, Sister Mary Annette makes a brief but hilarious appearance. Say the name out loud.
I mentioned before that their habits are limiting: the costuming for the play is wonderfully supportive for dance, singing, and clowning. I found it amazing that when our perceptions of people are limited to their faces and hands it supports that old saw “the eyes are the windows to the soul.” We see so much about the women inside the black and white shell the limitations seem to fade away and we know them better without hair and costuming.
The in-show “tech staff” consists of the Stage Manager (Blaise Wingold) and the Conductor (Henry Ziegler) who are mostly silent and clearly serving the sisters in their antics.
The set (in the Nunsense universe) is borrowed from a junior high production of Grease (or Vaseline as Regina says). Diner stools, a bar, a cutout car, a Sandra Dee bed, and a jukebox are incorporated well into the show. The proscenium gives an impression of infinite depth, and the glittery surfaces on the panels allowed for the visual double usage.
Lighting was wonderfully complex and perfectly timed. Rapid shifts of focus are necessary to the timing of the show and they worked perfectly every time.
Sound effects were minimal, but the sound reinforcement could be a bit refined. Balance between the band for the show and the vocal performances occasionally turned into a loudness competition unnecessarily.
The show’s finale worked beautifully, blending all the production elements together into a majestic gospel number.
There’s a tendency with farces to emphasize speed of performance while losing clarity and the time to process complex reactions, the audience should never be allowed to figure out that a lot of this is just there to get a laugh. Sometimes that required speed of performance got in the way of diction, both in the acting and the singing. The group excelled at the unison and harmonic moments in the songs but even though I put my “listening ears” on and didn’t concentrate on anything else but the words I frequently just couldn’t understand them, especially during verses and the patter songs. Maybe sacrifice a little speed for clearer diction? Ensemble vocals worked and voices blended beautifully.
Some notes about the show:
On opening night there was a lot of haze being used, presumably to make the lighting beams useful tools for changing focus. You are aware of the lights and that makes your eye flick to the focus point, most often the performers’ faces. It works best in moderation, and the smoke was as thick as incense at a High Mass during Act I. Kudos to the tech staff at UMW, the issue was cleared up (literally) during Act II. We could see better and the actors seemed to sing more easily, too.
I was pretty sure that a couple of music cues were momentarily slow and required ad libbing, but I chalk that up to extra opening night energy.
Give yourself a treat and go see this show. Who doesn’t need a bit of fun these days?
Dennis Wemm is a retired professor of theatre and communication, having taught and led both departments at Glenville State College for 34 years. In his off time he was president and sometimes Executive Director of the West Virginia Theatre Conference, secretary and president of the Southeastern Theatre Conference, and generally enjoyed a life in theatre.
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