Locals to star in Nunsense

THE London hit show Nunsense will be brought to Port Alfred thanks to Evergreen Theatre in collaboration with the Port Alfred Rotary Club.

The five-women production of Nunsense, written in 1985, has already won four Outer Critics Circle Awards, including best off Broadway musical, best book and best music.

Ann Green of Evergreen Theatre was first inspired by the show when her friend came back from London raving about how wonderful it was. Once Green saw the script and heard the soundtracks, she immediately thought “This is going to be wow!”

Port Alfred resident Val Williams will be in charge of the music and group work and Sharon Badenhorst will oversee the dancers as head choreographer.

The show is set in a convent. Five of the 19 surviving Little Sisters of Hoboken, a one-time missionary order that ran a leper colony on an island south of France, discover that their cook, Sister Julia, accidentally killed the other 52 residents of the convent with her tainted food, while they were off playing bingo.

Upon discovering the disaster, the Mother Superior has a vision showing her how to raise funds for the burials. Thinking that her idea was an enormous success and that there was plenty of money, the Reverend Mother bought a VCR and a video recorder for the convent, leaving her with no money to pay for the last four burials.

With the deceased nuns on ice in the deep freeze, they decide to stage a variety show in the Mount Saint Helen‘s School auditorium to raise the necessary amount.

Participating in the project are Mother Superior Mary Regina, a former circus performer who cannot resist the spotlight; her competitive but dignified rival, second-in-command Sister Mary Hubert; Sister Robert Anne, a streetwise nun from Brooklyn; Sister Mary Leo, a novice who is determined to be the world‘s first ballerina nun; and wacky, childlike Sister Mary Amnesia, who lost her memory when a crucifix fell on her head.

Those who showed up for auditions held at the Rosehill Mall Cinemas last Thursday were: Marissa de Klerk, Ailsa Barber, Terri Stander, Carla Gailey, Nadine Breytenbach, Zoe Mazantsana, Sasha Badenhorst and Natalie Brent.

The auditions were successful with the eight trying out for the five distinctive roles, put through chorography, vocal and acting tests to see who would make the cut.

Although most acted as “naughty nuns”, the auditions went so well that the group met last Friday to go over the script. - LIESL AH SHENE