My Sex and Gender class (fantastic, so interesting) is visiting SpeakEasy tomorrow to see The Divine Sister.
From SpeakEasy’s website: “The Divine Sister is an inspired homage to every Hollywood film ever made about nuns. Written by Charles Busch, the comic genius behind such classics as Die, Mommie, Die!; Psycho Beach Party; andVampire Lesbians of Sodom, this gleefully twisted tale tells the story of an indomitable Mother Superior trying to cope with a young postulant experiencing “visions,” a sensitive schoolboy in need of mentoring, a mysterious nun visiting from Berlin, and a former suitor intent on luring her away from her vows.”
The only other experience I’ve had with this is is that it happens to be my old choir director’s favorite. And he loves Wicked, I thought, so it must not be for me. But if my Women’s Studies class is making an outing to witness it, I think I need to reconsider my assumptions… I’ve always been severely turned off by satire that is explicit in its protest. I oftentimes (not always) find it abrasive because of the sometimes holier than thou attitude. But perhaps if my incredibly intelligent feminist professors are making a thing of it, I should try it out. Also, through the writing of this I have rediscovered that I still avoid theatre I think I won’t like… I thought I was getting better about it, but hey, here’s an example of my self-detrimental pickiness.
Lastly, I point out something that is irrelevant to what I addressed above, but in light of last week’s discussion on copyright law, I think it’s cool. How rad is it that satire is protected? We can be bummed out about not being able to use Mickey Mouse in our plays, fine. But at least we know we always have satire. (looking on the sunny side.)
FULLER, OVER AND OUT!
2 Comments
Ilana Brownstein posted on November 16, 2011 at 2:20 am
Please follow up with another post after you see the show — we’d love to know what you think!
sbmeyers posted on November 22, 2011 at 1:23 am
I went to see The Divine Sister and had a blast! It was hilarious!!! I haven’t seen a lot of Charles Busch’s work, but I have seen Psycho Beach Party on film. The Divine Sister felt similar in its exploration of parody. Some of the film references were lost on me. I also feel, in retrospect, that the plot was quite complex. My gut reaction is to say that some things felt “conventional,” but I think that’s the world of the play. It feels familiar, yet queerly distorted and hyper-theatrical. I definitely thought 2 out of the 6 performers were somewhat terrible, but I enjoyed the other performers so much it didn’t matter. I think Varla Jean Merman was excellent. Her timing and specificity of action were what stole the show. She is a true artist of drag and comedy. Having seen her as the unforgettable star of “Phantom of the Oprah,” I was not disappointed. I felt much better after I saw the show, having had a two hour respite to giggle my cares away. I think it’s good for me to be reminded of the power of comedy. Sometimes our deepest-felt messages are delivered most efficiently through laughter.