By Derek Schlennstedt
Those daffy, how-could-you-not-love-them Little Sisters of Hoboken are on their way to the Dandenong Ranges to appear in Nunsense, which will play at the 1812 theatre for the month of November.
Trish Carr directs the musical which was written and composed by Dan Goggin.
Nunsense begins when 52 of The Little Sisters of Hoboken have been accidentally poisoned by a vichyssoise prepared by their cook, Sister Julia, Child of God, who, as we learn later on, has an unorthodox taste when it comes to recipes.
The order had enough money to bury 48 of the sisters but now needs to raise more to bury the remaining four, who are being kept in the freezer – the reverend mother spending money on buying a plasma TV, instead of burying the last four dead nuns.
And so, we meet the five survivors.
Led by The Reverend Mother Sister Mary, the Sisters Mary Hubert, the mistress of novices; Robert Anne, a streetwise nun from Brooklyn, Mary Leo, a novice who is a wannabe ballerina; and the delightfully wacky Mary Amnesia, the nun who lost her memory when a crucifix fell on her head, endeavour to raise money to bury the others through a fund-raiser.
Director Trish Carr spoke to The Mail about the musical and could not help but laugh upon retelling the premise.
“It makes me laugh every time I think about it,” she said.
“It’s a very, very funny show … lots of interesting and unexpected things will happen and it might just surprise the audiences a little bit.”
“It’s mayhem, but very funny.”
The musical will interact with the audience as the sisters decide to raise money by putting on a variety show, which Trish said was performed to the audience.
“It’s a musical, but it’s the kind of musical that’s a musical as a play … because of the comedy and storytelling it works really well and the audience who come to the show become the audience of the fund-raiser.”
“There’s no fourth wall,” she said.
Nunsense will play at the 1812 theatre from 16 November to 9 December. To buy tickets go to http://www.1812theatre.com.au/whats-on/the-2017-season/nunsense/
