"Nunsense" was written in 1985, which explains why a lot of the jokes may sound like they were written along with the Dead Sea Scrolls. About half of the jokes would most likely leave younger students blinking clueless amid an audience of laughing old timers (those over 30) and former Catholic students. For some of the younger Generation "Y"ers, the musical comedy may not be much of a comedy at all. One joke about someone named Nelson left older people chuckling, but others who were still in diapers in 1985 probably didn't get the joke. Sorry, "Full House" is as far back as I can go.
The storyline was very simple and easy to understand. "Nunsense" tells a story of five nuns of the Little Sisters of Hoboken who have to raise money to bury four nuns who died from food poisoning from a tainted soup cooked by "child of God, Sister Julia." The other 46 nuns who died were buried, but Sister Regina spent the remaining funds on a VCR. They had to raise money by performing humorous musical numbers that included vocal solos and dance steps for the audience.
Brushing the archaic jokes aside, the rest of the play was great. The cast was full of colorful characters. Glossy, cross-eyed Sister Amnesia, a nun who forgot her identity and joined the Hoboken Sisters, was the clumsy and timid one of the bunch. Sister Robert Anne was a street-wise nun from New York who occasionally said the word h-. Sister Mary Hubert was the critical one of the group and Sister Mary Leo was a young novice who still had much to learn ... especially about being humble. (She dreamed of being a ballerina star.) Annie Mar, an ELD teacher here at Bear Creek, played the best husky and jovial Mother Superior there could be.
One of the best scenes in the play was when the timid Sister Amnesia quizzed the audience after a song and passed out coins of the saints for correct answers. Her hopping around the audience holding a ruler cross-eyed was just fun to watch.
Some of the other scenes were pretty shocking and may have offended a few people. Younger people may have gotten a kick out of some of the scenes, though. One scene that got a roar from the audience was when Sister Robert Anne discovered a suspicious bottle in a brown paper bag. The curious Sister Regina, this time alone in the scene, took a whiff from the bottle. She then began to laugh uncontrollably and dished out jokes one after another. She imitated the Pope of Rome waving both hands wearing a cook's hat, almost tripped on a stool, and lies on her stomach insanely saying "Free Willy! Free Willy!"
While the play seemed to be satirical toward nuns and the Catholic Church, Mar says that they were merely gently teasing. She came from a Catholic school herself.
Mar has performed in other plays in the Stockton Civic Theatre including "Scrooge" and "Hello Dolly." In spite of her past experience, she did not believe that she would receive a part in "Nunsense."
"Most of the other actors and actresses were drama teachers and majored in drama," Mar said. "I didn't have as much experience as they did."
The part for the leading role, Sister Regina, required a strong voice, basic dance steps and harmony. The director decided to take a chance with Mar. Mar knew that she had the physical stature and fit the jovial, back-slapping character of Sister Regina.
"You may know your lines, but if you also need to know how to be your character in context of the play," Mar said.
To be able to speak in Sister Regina's accent, Mar listened to Irish dialect tapes. Mar's accent repertoire includes British cockney and Texan accents.
"Nunsense" took six weeks to prepare and four and a half weeks to perform. Taking a leading role required a very big time commitment - rehearsal was almost everyday.
"Nunsense" had a little bit of everything that all ages could enjoy - tap dance steps, wholesome vocals and impressions of actors for those above the age of 30; the cookbook and suspicious bottle scenes for the more "tolerant" below 30; and the quiz for everyone to answer for a souvenir coin. Just like in the Iron Kids Bread commercial, if you and your parents can't choose one play to watch, "Nunsense" would be the best choice that all can agree on.