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Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All for You

Full-Length Play, Comedy  /  3w, 2m, 1boy(s)

This biting, irreverent and uproariously funny satire aims its barbs at organized religion and strikes home with hilarious results. In it, Sister Mary’s long lecture on Roman Catholicism starts conventionally but grows in morbidity and even horror as it proceeds.

Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All for You

  • Cast Size
    Cast Size
    3w, 2m, 1boy(s)
  • Duration
    Duration
    75 Minutes
  • SubGenre
    Subgenre
    Faith-Based
  • Audience
    Target Audience
    Adult
Accolades
Accolades
  • Winner! 1980 Obie Award for Playwriting

Details

Summary

This biting, irreverent and uproariously funny satire aims its barbs at organized religion and strikes home with hilarious results. In it, Sister Mary’s long lecture on Roman Catholicism starts conventionally but grows in morbidity and even horror as it proceeds. Sister Mary Ignatius, a teaching nun who is much concerned with sin in all of its various forms, delivers a cautionary lecture to her charges. The lecture is interrupted by four of her ex-students, who present a religious pageant, then reveal how far they have strayed from her teaching. Their stories are disturbing, but also very funny – and it is quickly apparent that one thing they all have in common is their loathing for Sister Mary and the unyielding dogma which she forced on them in their formative years. In the end there is mayhem and bloodshed – but with this, the unsettling feeling that, amid the laughter, some devastating truths have been told.

History
Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All for You premiered at the Ensemble Studio Theatre in New York City on14 December 1979 on a bill with one-act plays by David Mamet, Marsha Norman and Tennessee Williams. The production was directed by Jerry Zaks. The play was then presented off-Broadway by Playwrights Horizons on a double bill with the author’s The Actor’s Nightmare on 14 October 1981.
Cast Attributes

SISTER MARY IGNATIUS – A strict Catholic nun. Anywhere from 45 to a vigorous 65.
THOMAS – A young student in Sister Mary’s class.
GARY SULLAVAN – A former student who reveals himself to be gay.
DIANE SYMONDS – A former student who has had two abortions.
PHILOMENA ROSTOVICH – A former student who is an unwed mother.
ALOYSIUS BUSICCIO – A former student who has become an alcoholic and is considering suicide.

  • Time Period 1980s
  • Setting

    A religious classroom. Early 1980s.

  • Features Contemporary Costumes/Street Clothes
  • Duration 75 Minutes
  • Cautions
    • Gun Shots
    • Intense Adult Themes
    • Violence

Media

“A saucy exercise in theological farce.” – The New Yorker

“One of those grand moments where an unbridled talent finally shows what he is capable of doing.” – Village Voice

“Only a writer of real talent can write an angry play that remains funny and controlled even in its most savage moments. Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All for You confirms that Christopher Durang is just such a writer.” – Frank Rich, The New York Times

Licensing & Materials

  • Minimum Fee: £55 per performance plus VAT when applicable.

Scripts

Available Formats:

Authors

Christopher Durang

Christopher Durang’s plays include The Idiots Karamazov (coauthored with Albert Innaurato), A History of the American Film (Tony nom.), Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All for You (Obie Award), Beyond Therapy (off and on Broadway), Baby with the Bathwater, The Marriage of Be ...
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