Nunsense - the mega-musical

It seems disrespectful, if not perhaps blasphemous, to laugh at nuns but it was an illustration of the way in which this group had entered into the spirit of this show that right from the start you couldn’t help doing so.  From the moment we entered the auditorium and were greeted by the nuns themselves, already in their New Jersey characters, we were transported to their world where they were organising a fund-raising concert for their convent. The room was set out in cabaret style with tables suitably decorated with flower arrangements each containing a crucifix.

The evening began with a game of bingo, appropriate in the circumstances since it had been a trip to such an event that had saved our heroines from the fatal dose of food poisoning which had been the downfall of their colleagues remaining in the convent on the fateful evening. The opening number was followed by a quiz on its content, a source of some amusing audience participation and excellent ad-libbing on the part of Sister Amnesia, a role in which Clare Meadley amused us throughout her performance.  Indeed, all the principals excelled themselves and took on their respective characters without any inhibitions, something which is essential in this show. They were well led by Beverly Goring as Mother Superior, who excelled in a part which requires her to be particularly off-the-wall when she samples a substance which is clearly somewhat stronger than the chapel incense.  I also enjoyed her lip-curling reaction to unwelcome news or experiences, which reminded me of Dame Edna Everage in her prime. I must also mention Richard Goodall’s performance as the somewhat butch Sister Julia, the chef responsible for the earlier culinary disaster.  His performance added more humour to the evening, already very entertaining with jokes poking fun at many institutions and some amusing references to other musicals.   

In theory, this is a fairly simple show for any group to tackle: minimal scenery and only one costume for each character.  In practice, however, it can be a demanding one as several of the principals have a solo item, whether it be comedy, song or dance, each of them needing to be delivered strictly in character. All of the cast turned in excellent performances and were well directed with some amusing touches.  A trio of musicians provided support and it was good to see Katie Allen make an appropriate switch from keyboard to violin for a song about “playing second fiddle”.

The cast clearly enjoyed themselves, this soon spread to their audience and everybody had a thoroughly enjoyable evening.                           

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