Nunsense!

What a riot of hilarity!  For those not familiar with this Dan Goggin musical Nunsense​ is a spoof about the misadventures of the little sisters of Hoboken with five nuns trying to manage a fundraiser to pay for the funerals of four of their sisters.  The convent has sadly reduced in numbers as many of the sisterhood died from botulism (‘after eating vichyssoise prepared by Sister Julia’).  Whilst sufficient funds were originally available to give all of the sadly deceased sisters a ‘good send off’ Reverend Mother then decided to spend the remaining funds on a “3D HD flat screen TV” leaving four dead sisters in the deep freeze of the convent with a health inspectors visit imminent.  Thus a night of fundraising entertainment is planned and the five nuns all set about sharing their ‘talents’ with us.

From the moment we entered the theatre we were welcomed by a group of nuns working ‘Front of House’.  They all kept their characters, encouraged the audience to participate and were very effective at setting the scene and maintaining the story.  Congratulations to Rachel Shimbles, Catharine Killan, Steph Burgess and Margo Atkinson who improvised their way through an initially wary audience to warm up the assembled masses ready for the onstage antics.

The script is clever, but it is also clearly very challenging and the five sisters along with Father Innit (Ted Killan) are barely off stage.   Poor Killan seemed to be on and off stage doing the sisters bidding whilst moving props and set – but he did it with great effect.

What is thoroughly enjoyable about this script, with it’s jokes largely consisting of “nun” puns, is that each of the cast gets their moment to share their talents (which had previously been hidden under their habits!)  There are tap and ballet dances along with stand-up acts and rather crude ventriloquist puppet routine. Helen Smith was almost believable as the forgetful and wistful Sister Amnesia, who it transpired was actually a Country Music star and ‘Could Have Gone to Nashville’.  As a tap dance lover I enjoyed the fabulous tap routine “Tackle That Temptation With A Time-Step” led by Sister Hubert (Loretta Marklew) and featuring all the company.  Marklew really lifted the energy as we moved into the interval leaving the audience ready for Act 2.  

Act 2 had super pace and it was full of some brilliant interpretations of the shows musical numbers – ‘The Drive-In’ and ‘We’ve Got to Clean Out the Freezer’ being just two of several very cleverly delivered routines which for such a small cast must have been difficult to plan and present.   Sister Robert Anne (Susan Wilcock) along with company delivered a very funny rendition of ‘Growing Up Catholic’.  Sally Holmes was hilarious as Reverend Mother, trying her best to keep the other nuns in order, but failing somewhat dramatically.   Sister Mary Leo (Zoe Lancaster) completed the nuns collective and like the others was very funny in her delivery,  poise and posture.

The cast worked incredibly hard and their timing was never once off beat.  Nuns habits don’t lend themselves to easy movement or dance, but again the sisters moved with ease and decorum making their spontaneous dancing even more funny.  They were supported by great set and props along with excellent sound and light.  As the roles are so important the Society had an understudy and thanks should be expressed to Elizabeth Roberts for being prepared to step in should it be needed.

Utmost congratulations to Director and Choreographer Mark Allan – it must have been very challenging to pull this off, but the hard work was definitely worthwhile.  Similarly to Musical Director Mike Gilroy, who had a huge range of numbers to work on with a very small cast, but all were very well delivered.   The musical numbers were supported by a live band and the music was excellent throughout.

Congratulations to everyone at Ilkley AOS as you start your centenary year – you have really set the bar high for the rest of your celebrations and performances.

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