at the Gene Bua Theatre
Patricia Burke Brogan's stunning glimpse into horrid reality is more than just another Irish play; it's a cunningly sharp attack on some of the dictates of the Catholic Church. The location is an institutional laundry in the fictional town of Killamacha, sometime in the 1960s. The situation, however, is far from fictional. Slaving in the laundry are the "penitents," women who have "sinned" by having sex outside of marriage, bearing illegitimate children, or being raped. Given up by their families, their seducers, and society, their children adopted or sent to orphanages, they are indentured to the church, according to the rigidly brutal Mother Victoria (a fearfully fine Rebecca Wackler), their chief "warder," to "protect them from their passion." The harsh system existed in Ireland for 150 years before it was finally outlawed in 1970; during that period, the women were essentially eclipsed from history.
Rebecca Marcotte is luminescent in an enhanced performance as Nellie Nora, a woman ruined and then scorned. A justifiably bristling Josie DiVincenzo is implacable as the tough-talking Brigit, who's replaced her defeat with blind anger and defiance. Leslie Baldwin commands unlimited attention with her superb, and superbly funny-sad, take on Mandy, a simple country girl who has filled her social isolation with a passionately funny adoration of Elvis, rejecting any suggestion that her love might be unrequited. Melissa Jones is heartbreaking as the doomed Cathy, wracked with asthma and a broken heart, who is intent on escape at any cost, however ultimate it might be. Lisa Dobbyn, as Sister Virginia, has an angelic quality that makes her near perfect as the doubting novice, with peace in her face, though none in her soul. Andra Carlson is the innocent 16-year-old Juliet, who admires these despised women and has chosen the laundry over the orphanage.
Sean Branney's direction highlights the surprising comedy in this dire tragedy, emphasizing the joy inherent in the loving relationships forged among these forsaken women, despite their pain and suffering. It's a story begging to be told; it was staged by Theatre Banshee in the company's premiere production in 1995.
Shaun Meredith's scenic design and Laura Brody's costumes are unhealthily redolent of the heat, smell, and taste of the incoming dirty laundry and, symbolically, the pristine starch of the washed and ironed ecclesiastical clothing waiting to be donned by the bishop.
Presented by Theatre Banshee at the Gene Bua Theatre, 3435 W. Magnolia Blvd., Burbank. Fri.-Sat. 8 p.m., Sun. 2 p.m. Feb. 10-Mar. 18. (818) 628-0688.
Reviewed by Madeleine Shaner