2008 Woodie Awards
Nunsense - Because We All Love to Mock Religion
Jennifer Moor
Issue date: 4/12/05 Section: Arts
Selected as one of the two Spring musicals to be performed this semester, Dan Goggin's "Nunsense" proved no truer sentiment this past weekend than the old cliché: less is more. The entire cast was made up of only five girls and, as the musical's title should indicate, the costume/set design was very minimal. However what the Abbey of Mount Saint Helen lacked in presentation, it made up for in the pious personas of its sisters.
"Nunsense" transformed the Goodwin theatre on campus into a place of religious worship where the audience was immediately inducted. The "nuns" greeted the audience as they filed into the theatre and set the stage for the hilarity that was to follow. The audience instantly was absorbed and amused as they watched their friends and classmates in full habit fulfilling their religious roles.
The superficial storyline of the show is that these five nuns are attempting to bring in some sort of revenue to their convent by holding a talent show. This dire need for cash stems from the fact that the Abbey suffered a fatal encounter with a very potent dinner stew that almost decimated their population. While the majority of these sorry sisters received a proper burial, a somewhat debated VCR purchase by the Reverend Mother caused the internment of the last four sisters to be put on hold. The conflicts between the Board of Health and the convent have become more and more heated as these remaining sisters are being kept in the Abbey freezer until enough funds have been raised. However time is running out.
The somewhat morbid context for Mount Saint Helen's performance is completely masked, however, by the hysterical cast of characters who live there and their ambitions to become a star. Sister Robert Anne, played by freshman Angelica Castaneda, welcomed the crowd into the convent. The only nun clad in white tennis shoes beneath her robes, Robert Anne was proclaimed by one audience member as the "sassy sister." As she strut the stage with her streetwise swagger, this sister could have elicited no more appropriate an epithet as she without a doubt provided the attitude of this abbey. However, music was behind the muscle of this nun as she revealed in her song that saved the day, "I Just Wanna be a Star." The title says it all.
"Nunsense" transformed the Goodwin theatre on campus into a place of religious worship where the audience was immediately inducted. The "nuns" greeted the audience as they filed into the theatre and set the stage for the hilarity that was to follow. The audience instantly was absorbed and amused as they watched their friends and classmates in full habit fulfilling their religious roles.
The superficial storyline of the show is that these five nuns are attempting to bring in some sort of revenue to their convent by holding a talent show. This dire need for cash stems from the fact that the Abbey suffered a fatal encounter with a very potent dinner stew that almost decimated their population. While the majority of these sorry sisters received a proper burial, a somewhat debated VCR purchase by the Reverend Mother caused the internment of the last four sisters to be put on hold. The conflicts between the Board of Health and the convent have become more and more heated as these remaining sisters are being kept in the Abbey freezer until enough funds have been raised. However time is running out.
The somewhat morbid context for Mount Saint Helen's performance is completely masked, however, by the hysterical cast of characters who live there and their ambitions to become a star. Sister Robert Anne, played by freshman Angelica Castaneda, welcomed the crowd into the convent. The only nun clad in white tennis shoes beneath her robes, Robert Anne was proclaimed by one audience member as the "sassy sister." As she strut the stage with her streetwise swagger, this sister could have elicited no more appropriate an epithet as she without a doubt provided the attitude of this abbey. However, music was behind the muscle of this nun as she revealed in her song that saved the day, "I Just Wanna be a Star." The title says it all.
