Review: Stellar AGNES OF GOD at Coyote StageWorks
By: Don Grigware May. 03, 2016
Agnes of God/by John Pielmeier/directed by Don Amendolia/Coyote StageWorks/Annenberg Theatre, Palm Springs/CLOSED
Playwright John Pielmeier's Agnes of God, written in 1982, was based upon a real life police case of a novice nun in Boston, accused of murdering her baby. Coyote StageWorks just closed a stellar 10 performance only run of the play at the Annenberg Theatre in Palm Springs. Under the direction of veteran actor/director Don Amendolia, Agnes of God proved itself as topical today as it did in the 80s, and Broadway is ripe for a revival.
The play is an intense clash between court psychiatrist Martha Livingstone (Marsha Waterbury) who investigates the crime, and the convent's Mother Superior Miriam Ruth (Laura Julian) who defends the young novice Agnes (Britt Adams) as an innocent. It is at the core a clash between catholicism and atheism, faith versus science/therapy, miracle versus fact. Livingstone serves as narrator, opening and closing the play. She is a lapsed catholic whose sister had died in a convent. She blamed the church for her sister's abuse and turned atheist. Sister Miriam Ruth is trying to protect Agnes by cloistering her and claims that the birth was a true miracle of God. But, as the investigation proceeds, it is brought to light that Sister Ruth is in fact Agnes's aunt. She has been overprotective and has lied to the law. To add to the intrigue, both women are pulled in the opposite direction of their beliefs. Sister Ruth is forced to confront her doubts about modern techniques of therapy like hypnotism... and Livingstone begins to wish more and more for the existence of a miracle. Caught in the middle, poor Agnes was victimized and abused by her mother as a child and is so distraught that her mental state is anything but rational.
The play was made into a film in 1985, and as good as it was, opening it up destroyed its basic intimacy and intensity. Director Don Amendolia moves the three actresses cautiously and keeps the discussion on a fierce track, never veering from Pielmeier's brilliant writing. The action is kept center stage with two chairs. It is here that Livingstone questions both Ruth and Agnes. It is also here where the hypnotism takes place, and as a result of it, Agnes breaks down and tells the truth about the night the baby died.
The basic functional set design is by Josh Clabaugh, who allows you to use your imagination to fill in what you do not see. There are curtains behind with a flimsy see-through white curtain in the middle, symbolizing Agnes' supposed virginity.
This is in part a thriller, a mystery type play. The audience is on the edge of their seats, trying to figure out if Agnes really committed the murder, or was it Sister Ruth, or maybe even a priest, mentioned but never seen. Maybe he was the perpetrator, who had seduced and soiled Agnes for life?
The ending is a realistic one, not happy, but acceptable. Justice is served, but Agnes, who had spent a great deal of time singing in the convent, loses the magic, the joy of her cloistered life, and Miriam Ruth blames Livingstone and science for destroying any kind of positive future for her. And Livingstone? Is she happy with her success? No, she is not. As narrator, she confesses how unjust justice can be, particularly in dealing with special cases like Agnes.
The performances from all three actresses are astounding. Waterbury is strong yet vulnerable, like a wounded bird, trying desperately to hold onto her tenets at all costs. Julian is intelligent, firm, pious yet totally human. She is strict but also somewhat malleable and sensitive to bad habits. Take smoking, for example. When she sees Livingstone chain smoking, Sister Ruth, a former smoker herself, is enticed. Julian brings such humility and luminosity to a marvelously crafted performance! Adams as Agnes is so mesmerizing with her ability to control her emotions. She fits the innocence of Agnes like a glove, but as the play progresses, she is called upon to confess a series of gut-wrenching events. She is a find as an actress and should go far in this business. Watch out for Britt Adams!
Unfortunately, Agnes of God has closed, but it is one of the finest productions I have seen at Coyote StageWorks. Hopefully, it will have legs to tour at some future point in time. Bravo to one and all!
(David A. Lee photography)
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