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Compared to the fates of the many heretics who have wrestled with the Roman Catholic Church over the centuries, Faust had it easy. His contract with Lucifer was a cakewalk when examined in the dark light of apostates who dared to contradict the tenets of the Church: the fifteenth-century philosopher Giordano Bruno was burnt at the stake; Galileo was imprisoned (and his case overturned only recently, five hundred years afterward); while Madonna's criticism was repaid by her marriage to Guy Ritchie. Writers, too, have had their difficulties: James Joyce's first book, the incomparable short-story collection, Dubliners, would never have  seen the light of publication had the original printer who had been contracted to assemble the book had his way in refusing to see it through, because of what he viewed as Joyce's slander. In the rebellious 60's, the Irish authoress Edna O'Brien saw her début spoiled by her parish priest, who bought up all available copies of her book and burnt them on the church's steps-though better books than authors. Some writers mete out their own punishments in return; chief among contemporary playwrights is the imp Christopher Durang, who along with Wallace Shawn has demonstrated the savage streak that lurks behind the mask of propriety. The Unicorn Theatre's production of Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All For You focuses on the Church, but by evening's end the sister could be easily an ayatollah or a fringe rabbi. Durang has created an ecumenical monster-she might answer to Sister Meshugganah.

The one-act play keeps opening up like a maryushka nesting doll. After strolling down the side aisle to the stage, like a nun walking into a classroom nodding to her students, Sister Mary begins her day's lecture. She uses a slide projector to illustrate her comments on Heaven, Hell and Purgatory-one of the highlights is her list of sinners, which include various porn stars and, lastly, Adolph Comden and Betty Green: "Broadway musicals," she shudders deliciously-as well as the qualitative distinctions between mortal and venial sins. She answers questions from index cards, ignoring the repeated query "Why is there evil in the world?" yet happy to talk about her early family life. Gradually, we see more into Sister Mary than she seems to see, herself; as in a Hitchcock movie where the audience knows what the hero does not, we wait anxiously for the bomb to explode. It occurs in the second half, when four former pupils show up, ostensibly to present a Christmas Pageant for the good sister. As their own stories unfold, we discover that their years of training and being poked in the head with a pencil have shaped them, all right-only not the way that Sister Mary has come to expect. One woman is a lonely unwed mother ("You're a prostitute!" the nun blurts out); another has contemplated suicide; one man is an alcoholic and the last is homosexual. Dysfunction did not originate with Shakespeare, but the stage here is heavy with enough to keep Hamlet's family on their toes.

 Sister Mary, played-or rather, incarnated-by Ron Megee, makes the Rev. Jeremiah Wright seem like Mother Teresa. Megee's scowling, twitching face and ever-moving hands draw in the audience immediately. The reverse casting feels natural, as if Durang had written in the script, "Use a woman if you must, but look for a man." After watching Megee, I wondered at the performances throughout the years by Lynn Redgrave, Diane Keaton and the like: Megee's edginess gives his performance an edge that an actress would need to affect, since so few of us know how to portray nuns. The grownup students, played by Rachel May Roberts, Gary Campbell, Ryan Laws, and Corrie VanAusdal, circle his fiery center like planets in his (or her) orbit. The spare set is matched by Jeff Church's direction. The actors seem as surprised by what they blurt out as the audience; as the stories build to Rachel May Roberts's keening monologue, which equals almost everything Sister Mary has presented before, Durang's attitudinal humor becomes shrapnel that scatters to the last row.

 This is a comedy about tragedy. (Though what great comedy is not?) The more we see, the less we want to see: if Sister Mary's students had never shown up, she would continue on her merry way. Yet as it is, the play ends with her still in control, still content to be top dog. What exists, however, is the tiniest of cracks in the firmament. Christopher Durang wrote Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All For You in 1982. The years since have been unkind to the Church hierarchy. But who knows? Perhaps a playwright shall lead them into the Promised Land.


REVIEW:
The Unicorn Theatre presents
 Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All For You
Runs now through December 28, 2008
Unicorn Theatre, 3828 Main Street, Kansas City, MO
For tickets call 816-531-PLAY or online to www.unicorntheatre.org
 

By Steve Shapiro

Theatre Contributor (Past writer)
Steve Shapiro has been writing about the arts for over twenty-five years. He wrote and broadcast a weekly radio book review on KCUR-FM for ten years, and has contributed to NPR's Morning Edition book segment.

As a contributor to local publications such as KCMetropolis.org, KC Tribune.com, The Kansas City Star, Review, The Pitch, and Helicon 9, he has published essays and criticism on art, books, cinema, theater and the cultural Zeitgeist.

A chapter on the museum architects Frank Lloyd Wright and Steven Holl was published in the anthology, The Sixth Surface: Steven Holl Lights the Nelson-Atkins Museum (2007). On the side, he juggles Dachshunds and is available to moderate book groups.