Not quite heavenly

Naughty nuns kick the habit in salacious spoof 'Divine Sister'

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Audiences be warned: Lansing Civic Player’s season opener “The Divine Sister” is a perverse, expletive-laden, alacritous satire of sisters from stage and cinema. Like the creators of “South Park,” playwright Charles Busch (“Psycho Beach Party,” “Die! Mommy! Die!,” “The Tale of the Allergist’s Wife”) demandsan audience that appreciates his uninhibited perspective of pop cultureas filtered through melodramatic, politically progressive camp. LCPsimply requests an audience, period — preferably one that wants to seeBusch. 

To his credit, director Mike Stewart gathered a cast thatshares his zealotry for the material. An absurd level of commitment isrequired to sell characters in drag or to deliver monologues filledwith phallic imagery without flinching or laughing. When every otherline feels like it should be followed with a drum-set sting, it’stempting to play the joke — a temptation most of the cast thankfullyavoids.

Unfortunately, one odd exception is Paul Levandowski in the show’s leading and most challenging role, Mother Superior. 

Originally played by Busch in the Off- Broadwayproduction, Mother Superior is a direct parody of head nuns like IngridBergman’s character in “The Bells of St. Mary” or Meryl Streep’s character in “Doubt.”Consistent traits in most of these characters are wholesomeness, piousrestraint and a belief in tradition over progress. Mother Superiormocks this notion when she says, “We are living in a time of greatsocial change. We must do everything in our power to stop it.”

However, Levandowski’s drag-queen-inspired delivery —accentuated with an exaggerated lisp and excessive eye make-up — notonly feels inconsistent with the original archetype, it also transformsMother Superior from a potentially pithy parody into a one-note visualgag.

Overall, the rest of the cast play their humorous homagesmore faithfully. Mike Stewart portrays Sister Walburga with crisp,Germanic precision, while Sarah Sonnenberg impressively inhabits amiddle-aged male newspaper reporter, complete with rapid-fire dialogue.

Perhaps the most satisfying scene-stealing comes fromLaura Croff Wheaton as the conspiratorial Brother Venerius and theScottish janitor Mrs. MacDuffie, equipped with a brogue that even “TheSimpsons’” Willie would be envy.

Despite the pervasive energy and effort from the entirecast, the show’s greatest obstacle is perhaps the space itself.Understandably, the Hannah Community Center auditorium was not LCP’sfirst choice for this production, and Lansing’s limited options presentfew viable alternatives.

But a play of this nature, shall we say,demands a more intimate setting where inebriated laughter directlyfuels the gutter-level antics on stage. Thursday’s audience of a dozenill-prepared people made the entire auditorium feel hollow, resultingin second act performances plagued by desperation and the tedium ofslipped lines.

Technical elements like lightingdesigned by G. Michael Stewart and sound designed by Joe Dickson andMatt Ottinger are spot on, but are far less essential to the success ofthis show. The set, on the other hand, feels dwarfed by the enormity ofthe stage, resulting in unmotivated movement as characters strut aroundthe stage for no other reason than to fill the space. 

“Sister”marks a commendable and daring departure from LCP’s establishedrepertoire. That said, for a season opener to come out swinging, itneeds to consistently hit the mark.


‘The Divine Sister’

Lansing Civic Players

Through Sept. 25

8 p.m. Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays; 2 p.m. Sunday

Hannah Community Center, 819 Abbot Road,

East Lansing

$8-$14

(517) 484-9115

www.lansingcivicplayers.org

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