The Convent

At Dramashop

A Theater Review

As women we’re all searching. For respect. For meaning in life. And for love.

So, in a way, even if it’s just portrayed on the boards, it’s comforting to see others attempting to wend their way through this world.

Written by Jessica Dickey The Convent is a dramedy about six women opting to attend a weekend retreat at a medieval convent in hopes of resolving their personal issues. Some do. Some find themselves with the help of another novice”in less than, ahem…spiritual ways.

Actually less a convent, more of a New Agey congregation offering lip service to traditional religion and worship, this play gives us novices who imbibe a hallucinogenic at the behest of the Mother Abbess, smoke, swear, have sex and even occasionally recite Madonna’s Like a Prayer.

Heavens to Betsy!

(Does Madonna get a royalty out of this?)

Directed by Krista Perry, the 90-minute show sans intermission is more group therapy than cloistered novices, each with their own dilemmas.

Jill (Anna McJunkin) arrives hating her life and husband; Wilma (Evon Lloyd) is an actual nun who’s lost her faith; meanwhile, Dimlin (Leslie M. Ford), aide-de-camp to the Mother Abbess and naive cult survivor Bertie (Ash Carr), return every year.

At the center of this universe is the Mother Abbess (Karen Schelinski) a mysterious woman with issues of her own”especially with the zealot Patti (Alycia Olivar), who mocks the convent and its dogmas, yet oddly returns annually.

The ensemble gels well, providing enough give and take to allow the other actors to shine, while the blood feud tete-a-tetes between the Mother Abbess and Patti spill well beyond the convent’s stone walls.

See The Convent and hopefully your prayers for good local theater will be answered!

***Thea TahThe Convent continues through November 19. For more information visit www.dramashop.org