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Written by Administrator
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Wednesday, 01 July 1998 |
Once a Catholic by Mary O'Malley
'Once a Catholic' - another superb KEVIS production
We now take for granted the high quality of the productions at King Edward VI Grammar School's summer workshop and last week's performances of Mary O'Malley's 'Once a Catholic' were no exceptions and as usual most evenings were sold out.
The play is a comedy but one with a very hard edge. It is set in 1950s London and describes the effect of a convent education on the teenage pupils, all girls, and in particular on the three principal characters, all called Mary of course - Mary McGinty played by Holly McInnes-Hurd, Mary Mooney played by Fiona Nicholls and Mary Gallagher played by Ceri Ashcroft. Without giving away the plot, only one Mary can escape and even that is patrial as her cynical boyfriend, Cuthbert (played by Nick Griffiths) wishes, in his turn, to become a priest.
The convent school in which much of the play is set accurately reflects the ethos of a 1950s convent education with a style of teaching that has now fortunately disappeared. In this context those playing the nuns were superb: Mothers Peter and Basil, played by Jenny Cook and Becci Vessey, the perpetual dragons, contasting well with the 'Iron fist in a velvet glove' approach of the Mother Superior, played by Alice Birch. The Irish accents of the nuns and the priest, Father Mullarkey, played by Graeme Ellis, slipped occasionally but the embarrrassment of the priest was accurately portrayed and the Irish jokes were never 'gauche'. The other teacher to whom the girls are exposed is Mr Emmanuelli, the music teacher, with a questionable past who was colourfully portrayed by Paul Gurnham.
The scenes in the classroom brought back memories of 1950s descipline and the changing society in which these pupils were growing up. The humour was there but also the fear of the nuns: but overall there was the fear induced by the religious emphasis that permeated the pupils' lives both at home and at school. The forced pilgrimages, the interupted biology lesson and the condemning of a kiss as a mortal sin could be laughable in the present age but the cast made it believable and explicable.
The language of the girls was strong but not excessive and well within the context, as was that of the teddy boy, Derek, played by Karl Brown. He was as confused as his girlfriend, Mary McGinty, but without the religious or even moral scruples that plagued her. Even her final prank on the altar is more cheek than open rebellion.
All the school girls were believable in their gymslips and ankle socks and the principal Marys worked well together producing excellent interpretations of their differing characters - Mary Mooney, the most complex character of the three, was played with innocent charm that contrasted nicely with the manipulativeness of Mary Gallagher and and the street wise vulnerability of Mary McGinty. One was left at the end of the play with the impression that Mary Mooney might indeed have a vocation in spite of her comic clumsiness and that Mary Gallagher would be the one to succeed in her chosen career.
Overall this was an excellent production and all those involved have every reason to be pleased with their efforts. The school, under the aegis of Edward's Theatre Company, is taking this production to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in August which will be a fantastic, if exhausting, experience for the students - good luck to them.
Louth Leader - July 1998 |
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