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| Playwright Christopher Durang. |
MRS. SORKIN
FOR WHOM THE
SOUTHERN BELLE TOLLS
SISTER MARY
IGNATIUS EXPLAINS IT ALL FOR YOU
By Christopher Durang
Directed by Dan Welch
Reviewed
by Craig Nolan Highley
Entire
contents are copyright © 2013, Craig Nolan
Highley. All rights reserved.
Christopher Durang.
Now there is a playwright who draws a lot of controversy. His scripts
are usually dark and funny, but he has been accused of misogyny and worse when
it comes to the female characters he creates. Plays such as Laughing Wild and The Marriage of Bette and Boo, for example, present us with women
who are shrewish, insane, or just pitifully socially crippled. And while his
short plays don’t really treat women any better, I’ve always found him to be
better in small doses.
That brings me to the Coffee Cup Theater Company’s current
production of three of Durang’s short plays. The quality varies from piece to
piece, but the show as a whole is a nice introduction to the playwright’s
unusual style.
The first portion is the introductory piece Mrs. Sorkin. Performed as a monologue by
Cate Willard, it introduces us to the title character as she greets the audience and
informs us about protocol and purpose behind the experience of attending the theater.
She’s lost her notes, so she relies upon her somewhat scattered memory to give
us a quick history about theater, drama and ancient Greeks, and how closely
Dramamine is tied to drama. She also tells us that Mr. Durang is her nephew.
This section has a few scattered laughs and sets up the proceedings
nicely, with a nuanced performance by Willard. As a nitpick, she really needs
to try not to click her tongue quite so much; it got distracting after awhile. The
director had her come back out in character to talk to the audience during the
scene changes, but she was embarrassingly ill-equipped to ad-lib through the
downtime. I think a simple blackout or an intermission would have sufficed.
Next we get For Whom the Southern
Belle Tolls, a wacky parody of all things Tennessee Williams. Here we meet
Lawrence (Nick Johnson, in a sweet but rather flat turn), a hypochondriac
mother's boy who never leaves the house and reveres his collection of swizzle
sticks. Jamie Shannon gives one of the show’s best performances as Amanda,
Lawrence's vivacious and long-suffering mother. Lance Flint is also well cast
as Amanda's other son, Tom, a handsome, angry young man who wants nothing more
than to get away from his dysfunctional family. Lilly Goban, on the other hand,
screeches through her role as Lawrence’s half-deaf, lesbian, would-be love
interest; a difficult role, to be sure, but one that requires a lot more
subtlety than Goban provides.
The third play is hands-down the best of the three: Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All For You, a biting critique of
Catholicism and organized religion that starts out as just funny but gets
progressively darker as it moves toward its violent ending. We are introduced to Sister Mary
(Shannon again, sinking her teeth into this role even deeper than in the
previous entry), a world-weary nun presenting us with a lecture on the beliefs
of the church. Her sermon is interrupted by the arrival of four of her former
students, who seek to embarrass her in retaliation for the way she treated them
in their youth. Most memorable are Diane (Lydia Kennebrew, in a heart-tugging
performance surprisingly nuanced for the material) and Gary (Flint again,
playing almost the other side of the coin to the character he played in the
previous act). Can’t really say too much about this one without giving away too
much, but suffice it to say this is my personal favorite Durang piece and it’s
done well here.
Any production at the Rudyard Kipling struggles to create a convincing
set and lighting design, and this show is no exception. However, director Dan
Welch keeps things moving nicely and has elicited some really good
performances from his cast. There were times, though, that I wished his
performers would not rush the comedy; several sight gags and punch lines were
plowed right over and lost.
Ultimately your enjoyment of the show will really depend on your
tolerance for the playwright’s indulgences, but this is an acceptable
production and worth a look.
Starring Lance
Flint, Lily Goban, Zach Gombosky, Nick Johnson, Lydia Kennebrew, Allison Moore,
Jamie Shannon, and Cate Willard.
MRS. SORKIN
FOR WHOM THE
SOUTHERN BELLE TOLLS
SISTER MARY
IGNATIUS EXPLAINS IT ALL FOR YOU
Tickets are now on sale and reservations can be
made by calling (502) 299-8501 or e-mailing coffeecuptheatre@gmail.com. Tickets are $15 for adults and $10 for
students and seniors (cash and checks only).
Coffee
Cup Theatre
At
The Rudyard Kipling
422
West Oak Street
Louisville,
KY
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