Mike Temkin
Shane Needham
Chris Essey
Theatre 597
Christopher Durang
Christopher Durang is a playwright and actor. His plays have been seen throughout the country, on and off- Broadway and are usually comedic in nature either satire or dark comedy.
Durang was born on Jan 2, 1949 in Montclair New Jersey. His home was not the picture perfect family; His dad was an architect and an alcoholic, Durang later found out that this ran in his family, both grandparents faced problems with alcoholism. His mother had 3 stillborn babies; the first was when Christopher was 3. He was later quoted saying “My mother told me later that she went through a year of not knowing I was alive” (www.christopherdurang.com). Durang’s relives that time in his life, in the play The Marriage of Bette and Boo. In this play he has a character give birth to four stillborn babies at the same time having the doctor drops each to the floor. In New Jersey he went to a Catholic school, where he was a good student and excelled at writing. His parents divorced when he was Christopher was 19, Durang choose to testify against his father in court. Many years later Durang’s mother died at the age of 56 in 1979 from cancer.
After high school Durang Attend Harvard where he received his B.A; after Harvard he was accepted to Yale where he received his M.F.A (Master of Fine Arts) in Playwriting from Yale School of Drama. He attended college during the Vietnam War, which he apposed not only the war but also the Catholic Church’s standpoint, this would not be the first time Durang and the Catholic Church did not see eye to eye(www.christopherdurang.com).
Throughout Durang’s lustrous career he has accomplished many things; he has won many awards and has been awarded numerous fellowships and high profile grants. In the play A History Of The American Film, he was accepted as one of 12 plays done by the Eugene O’Neill National Playwriting Conference, from there it had productions at Hartford Stage Company in Connecticut, the Mark Taper Forum in L.A and the Arena Stage in Washington D.C(www.christopherdurang.com). In 1977 the play reached Broadway and won Durang a Tony nomination for best book of a musical. Durang also won Obie Awards for Sister Mary Ignatius Explains it All For You, The Marriage of Bette and Boo and Betty’s Summer Vacation. Sister Mary has been considered Durang’s most famous work, which not only did Durang receive the Obie Awards for playwriting, but actress Elizabeth Fran for her role as Sister Mary(www.imagi-nation.com). Durang was also awarded the Lila Wallace Readers Digest Writers Award in 1995 and then later the Sidney Kingsley Playwriting Award in 2000. After he won the 3 year Lila Wallace Readers Digest Writers Award, he received a grant which he used a part to run a writing workshop for adult children of alcoholics.
Durang explained in an interview that he has undergone a Spiritual evolution since he was an angery 28 year old who wrote Sister Mary (www.nytimes.com). He now lives back in Bucks County New Jersey with his partner of over 20 years John Augustine who is also an actor and writer. Durang began to become attracted to New Age philosophy and Transcendentalism, in his quest towards spirituality. He also began to attend meeting for friends and relatives of alcoholics. He liked the 12 step type of program that Alcoholics Anonymous uses with its assumption of a higher power. The cause for Durang’s interest in spirituality and of a higher being was partly due to him turning 56, the same age that his mother died which cause him intense anxiety (www.christopherdurang.com).
As mentioned previously Christopher Durang has a remarkable career as an actor on stage, in movies, the small screen and as a playwright. Some of his more famous works include, A History of the American Film which received a Tony nomination for best book of a musical in 1978. The Actor’s Nightmare, Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All For You which won the Obie award and ran off-Broadway from 1981-83. Beyond Therapy which was on Broadway in 1982, staring famous actors Dianne Wiest and John Lithgow, Baby with the Bathwater which ran in 1983, The Marriage of Bette and Boo in 1985 which also won Durang the Obie award. Laughing Wild in 1987, Durang/Durang, which was six short plays in 1994, Sex and Longing in 1996, starring Sigourney Weaver, and Betty’s Summer Vacation in 1999 that also won an Obie award (www.christopherdurang.com).
Many of Durang’s plays have come under scrutiny for being too risqué or controversial to produce. Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All For You has been a subject of great controversy for Durang and the Catholic Church. To help understand this battle I’ll explain the story and identify the controversies and topics discussed and some of the Church’s reactions.
The play begins with Sister Mary teaching about heaven, hell, and purgatory. She also talks about limbo, which is where anabaptized babies went before the Ecumenical Council decided against it. She says that all anabaptized babies before the councils’ decision will be in limbo for eternity, while anabaptized babies now will go to purgatory until baptized and eventually allowed into heaven.
This segment shows Durang’s scrutiny of Catholic dogma. The Church has switched positions on subjects or changed opinion often in its history, while still imposing strict adherence to its judgment.
She calls Thomas, her young student, out onto stage and asks him catechism questions, such as “Who made you?” Thomas replies correctly and precisely and is rewarded with cookies. Sister then begins taking questions from the audience, avoiding anything too controversial like “If God is all powerful why does he allow evil in the world?” She quickly goes to the next question and talks about her large family and how hardships in life are nothing compared to Christ’s suffering on the cross.
I like the Thomas character because he represents the seemingly brainwashed youth of Catholic schools. He is trained, literally with rewards, to answer questions correctly according to what the Church teaches. He whole heartedly believes the teachings of Sister Mary and obeys her every command. The University of Maryland’s Theatre Department agreed with this in their brochure for the play saying; “In Sister Mary Ignatius, Durang shines a spotlight on the Catholic Church, revealing its blind faith teachings as an extremely dangerous influence on people's lives." (According to the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights) I also enjoy the background of Sister Mary revealed by her talking about her family. She says she comes from a large family because her parents could not use birth control. She talks about how the dishes took 3 hours to do after supper, but that’s nothing compared to Jesus’ suffering. Here we see Sister Mary using her teaching to subdue her own feelings of suffering and pain in life.
Sister Mary then dismisses Thomas and talks to the audience about Sodom. She thinks that modern day Sodoms include any city with a population over 50,000, but God doesn’t destroy these cities because nuns and priests live within them too. She also says that prayers are always answered, it’s just that the answer is sometimes no.
Here Durang poses another conundrum to the Church. If Sodom was evil and destroyed, then why have modern day cities been allowed to flourish? Sister Mary says it is because nuns and priests live in those cities and God doesn’t want to destroy them. I can’t help but to think of the recent child molestation cases involving the Church when considering this.
All the former students enter and put on a show about Christ, birth to ascension. Sister Mary loves the performance, but she doesn’t remember the students. She asks the students catechism questions, but they don’t have the exact responses. She then questions the students about their lives. She is disgusted by Gary for being gay, Philomena for having a child out of wedlock, and calls Diane a murderer for having two abortions. She is fine with Aloysius’ life because he still goes to church and confesses, even though he beats his wife and is an alcoholic.
Durang gives a good representation of the spectrum of problems involved with sticking to Catholic doctrine in a modern day world. The best character interaction is between Aloysius and Sister Mary. Aloysius has stuck to his practices but has become depressed, abusive, and an alcoholic. Sister Mary suggests he take vitamins. This calls attention to the absurdity of unflinching forgiveness for all sin. As long as someone confesses and asks for forgiveness, they can destroy their own life and possibly others’ lives as well. I think this isn’t what angers the Church most, but it should be.
Things escalate when the students reveal they are there to embarrass Sister Mary because they all hated her. Diane’s complaint is that she actually believed in Sister Mary. Diane believed in God and was let down when her mother died and she was raped on the same day. She confessed this to a psychiatrist who then seduces her and is the reason for her second abortion. Diane then reveals she killed her psychiatrist and plans to kill Sister Mary as well.
The character of Diane is very compelling because of her true belief in Sister Mary’s teachings. She believed everything and relied on it to be true in practices of life. She was severely let down. This is probably the most controversial point for the Church. Diane’s story not only gives a strong argument for pro-choice, it also shows the Church’s punishment and disgust for acts beyond an individual’s control.
Sister Mary distracts Diane and shoots her dead. Sister Mary says that murder is OK in self-defense. She then asks Gary if he’s confessed today. He says yes and Sister Mary shoots him dead, saying that it’s OK because he confessed and hadn’t sinned since. The play ends with Thomas on Sister Mary’s lap pointing the gun at Aloysius and mechanically spouting catechism questions.
Here is an example of the Church explaining itself. Sister Mary has an unnecessary hatred for both Diane and Gary. Their lives have led them to outcomes not adherent to her teachings and she cannot accept that. She also justifies her hatred through Catholic teachings.
In the end Durang shows that none of humanity is without “sin” and there has to be better ways to address the problem. If the teachings of the Catholic Church continue in the manner that they have then they will produce violence and conflict rather than peace and tranquility. This play is controversial but art needs to be controversial sometimes to make a point and shine its spotlight on an issue that is going unnoticed by the public. Here the Church is scrutinized but rightly so. The events and characters are extreme, but believable. To call this play anti-catholic is to call life anti-catholic. In an interview with MEL GUSSOW of the New York Times Durang said, "To call my play anti-Catholic because I criticize a nun who's conservative," he said, "is akin to saying that 'Medea' is against all mothers." It’s true. Literary works and art reflect some aspect of humanity, whether it be perception or imagination, because they are created by humans. I am glad that Durang’s art has been shown and continues to be produced. I don’t disagree with the Church’s right to object to anything they see as anti-catholic or indecent, but they have no right to censor the material from others who wish to see it.
Excerpt from Catholic League for Religious and Civil Right:
[Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All for You, the Christopher Durang anti-Catholic play that never seems to die, ran for three weeks in Arlington, Virginia this past August. It was gratifying to read that Lloyd Rose of the Washington Post labeled the play "neither interesting nor satisfying," adding that the production is nothing less than Durang’s "hate letter to the Roman Catholic Church." Well said.]
The battle continues…
Although Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All For You was considered controversial ever since the play was first shown, it received a vicious welcoming when the play came to St. Louis in January of 1983. At the time the Theater Project Company was producing the show. Helping to spark these intense controversies were two articles written by Archbishop John L. May and the Interfaith Clergy Council of Greater St. Louis urging the faithful to both boycott and protest the play.
The articles were published in the St. Louis Review which is an archdiocesan weekly newspaper reaching several denominations in the St. Louis area. In an article written by Archbishop John L. May, Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All For You was called, “…a vile diatribe against all things Catholic.” Describing the effects of the play, Archbishop May claimed that, “…this play caricatures and ridicules every doctrine in the catechism and every Catholic value.” Furthermore, in response to the decision of the St. Louis community to show the play Archbishop John L. May said:
“This decision was made in freedom of expression which we respect. But we also reserve our right to express ourselves on this project of our own theatre company. The more than half-million Catholics in this area can do so most empathically by our total absence at the box office. I believe that thousands of our neighbors of every faith will do the same.” (St. Louis Review 1982)
Here Archbishop John L. May urges his people to boycott the production of Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All For You. Although this did damage to the box office of the play, other people felt this response wasn’t enough.
A couple of months after this article was published, a new article written by the Interfaith Clergy Council of Greater St. Louis was printed in the St. Louis Review. Their response to Durang’s play differed from Archbishop John L. May’s in that they felt his suggestion to boycott was too passive. They felt that silence was an insufficient response to the play and that a more active role was needed. They continued to say that, “Silence was forged in Nazi Germany,” following this with a quote about remaining silent in the face of the Nazi attacks on other nations. Pastor Martin Niemoller, who was a holocaust survivor, went on to say:
“We who are trained to speak can decide to say nothing.” Or: “Each can hold up his own standard of decency and express disgust at the driveling anti-Catholicism of this play that struts in the guise of art, and with the legal right of freedom of speech, spouts its sardonic humor…We can speak against it with one voice – together…Do we not need a resounding chorus of voices sounding one note: this play breeds evil?” (St. Louis Review 1983)
After this article was printed, Durang’s play felt intense heat in St. Louis.
The article by The Interfaith Clergy Council of Greater St. Louis filled the minds of the faithful of St. Louis with images of Nazi Germany, evil, and Sister Mary Ignatius Explains it All To You. Now having been filled with fear and hate, the St. Louis faithful actively react to the play. On top of boycotts of the play, there were active protests held outside the theater demanding that the production of the play be shut down immediately. When this wouldn’t work, the church turned to political powers to get what they wanted. Missouri State. Senator Edwin L. Dirck mounted a campaign to reduce funding to the Missouri Arts Council who earlier that year gave $12,000 to the Theater Project Company. Unfortunately, these disputes slowed the funding of a renovation project the Theater Project Company had poised for The Sun Theatre in the Grand Center area and eventually led to their demise as a company. They even tried to pass a law in St. Louis that no play that offended any ethnic or religious group could ever receive government funding. The response in St. Louis had a catalytic effect on the rest of the country.
All throughout the United States, Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All For You was denounced by several organizations including the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, Anti-Defamation League, National Conference of Christians and Jews, and the American Jewish Committee. Each of these groups sparked intense protests that took place at several theaters nationwide including Boston’s Charles Playhouse, Detroit’s Birmingham Theater, New York’s Nassau Community College and a West Palm Beach theater. Durang even claimed that his play received bomb threats in Florida. Although there were intense protests in Boston, the play was wildly popular and ran for seven months. However, no Durang play has been shown in Boston since the mid-1980’s. Phil Donahue devoted a full episode of his talk show to the efforts to close the play in St. Louis. After the show aired on national television, there was an increase in the New York City and Los Angeles box offices. Although the protests were successful in cities across the country, they could not convince the Nassau Community College to shut down the production.
In 1985, Nassau Community College president Sean Fanelli refused to cancel the showing of Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All For You in spite of bitter protests from the Nassau County Executive, the bishop of the local Catholic diocese and the faithful of New York. For this noble act, Dr. Sean Fanelli won the William J. Brennen Jr. Award, which was presented by the Thomas Jefferson Center for the Protection of Free Expression. In response to the play, Sean Fanelli was quoted as saying, “As a Catholic, I personally find the play offensive,” he maintained that “cancellation of the play would have a chilling effect upon academic freedom and freedom of speech as well.” Although the play sparked intense controversy in the mid-1980’s, it still receives a similar welcoming in recent years.
In 2001, a film version of Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All To You was planned to air on Showtime. However, William Donohue, president of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, wrote a letter to Viacom chairman Summer Redstone urging him to cancel the show. He said, “This Catholic-bashing episode has…occurred on your watch. Given your track record of condemning intolerance, Mr. Redstone, we Catholics want to know whether you will join with us – and with people across faith lines – in condemning ‘Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All For You.’” Despite this attempt, the film aired as scheduled. Also in 2001, an actress playing Diane in a Chicago showing of the play reported being hassled for her affiliation in the play. Matilda T. Zombie Queen said, “Everyone involved with either the production or the group itself began being bombarded with protest calls and letters from the local Catholic Church, the Archdiocese and a myriad of other folks up to and including the Anti-Defamation League.” So it seems that although Durang’s play saw some fire back in the 1980’s, it still conjures up some sparks in the current world.
Bibliography
www.imagi-nation.com
www.christopherdurang.com
www.google.com
www.washingtonpost.com
www.bostonglobe.com
www.nytimes.com
The St. Louis Review
www.wikipedia.org
www.catholicleague.org
www.ncac.org
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