| Agnes of God - Park Square Theater |
| Agnes of God - Park Square Theater |
At the beginning of this play, unseen, a beautifully clear and unaffected soprano voice, seemingly from the back of the stage sings:
Unaccredited in the program, one wondered if what we were hearing was live. Alayne Hopkins, known for portraying those “damaged goods” type characters like Laura in Park Square’s The Glass Menagerie indeed sang live and with committed precision delved into the title role in Park Square Theatre’s powerfully relevant production of Agnes of God which opened Friday October 26. Director Mary Finnerty decided that the actor playing Agnes, a nun who delivered an unplanned baby who was suspiciously murdered, should sing the arias that tag the end of several scenes on stage live. Hopkins not only convinces as a voice that might be touched by God but inhabits the age (21), innocence and tortured persona with riveting conviction. Perfectly cast, never contrived or “stagy,” with handling hysterical actions, Hopkins’ approach to Agnes arrives from an organic place that comes off so utterly natural, it’s similarly spooky for the viewers. She’s as real as it gets playing such a demanding role; the outcome is nothing short of witnessing a real treasure.
Finnerty’s staging of the play grippingly commands attention with seamless pacing and palpable urgency that we also get from the other hardheaded performances of the over protective Mother Superior Miriam Ruth (Linda Kelsey) and persistent truth seeker psychologist Dr. Martha Livingstone (Colleen Hennen). Mike Kittel’s lighting and Katharine Horowitz’s sound designs evoke just the right feel of sacred tranquility. This familiar John Pielmeier’s play debuted on Broadway in 1982 and successfully ran for 18 months culminating with a critically praised 1985 film starring Jane Fonda (the psychologist), Anne Bancroft (Mother Superior) and Meg Tilly (Agnes).
Kelsey, in her tenth production with Park Square, handles Miriam with a wry sense of wisdom and pluckiness. She doesn’t so much attack her adversary, the psychologist, as to passionately defend her own belief system. It’s a belief based on one’s steadfast faith in God, protection of Agnes’ fragility and per chance, the existence of a miracle or two. Hennen’s (also a seasoned performer from Park Square) Dr. Livingstone sternly banters with the mother superior over the logistics of this murdered baby. Martha wants to awaken Agnes to a world of becoming a mature thinking woman who can make her own choices. Tentative initially with her first few monologues, Hennen eventually heats up with a driving persistence to get to the truth about Agnes and to free her from the confines of the convent.
Pielmeier’s conceit about Agnes examines the truth of science vs. the belief in God’s work through miracles. The contradictions from scientific and religious theories play out a relentless power struggle in saving the life of Agnes. The mother superior insists that if Agnes, an abused and uneducated victim who took refuge in the convent, stands trial for the murder of her baby, she will become irrevocably damaged. Agnes’ superior also believes the baby possibly was born by divine conception. The psychologist wants to hypnotize Agnes (who doesn’t remember the birth of the baby) to find the truth of what happened to the baby after delivery and possibly who fathered the child. Dr. Livingstone feels what Agnes really needs is to be awakened to the realities of life outside of the convent where there exist choices for women and not a life of servitude.
The traumatically sheltered Agnes needs healing but is it found in opening her mind to the reality of life or should she safely be protected from a life damaging media scandal under the careful watch of the convent? The legal answer would be the former suggestion, but the Mother Superior feels the action of faith in God’s hands will truly take care of Agnes’ healing. “We’ve evolved too far. We’re too complicated . . . What we’ve gained in logic, we’ve lost in faith,” she believes.
 |
 |