BWW Reviews: Desert Rose's THE DIVINE SISTER is Indeed Divine, Especially for Those who Love Oddball Comedy

The Desert Rose Playhouse, a 501(c)(3) community theater in Rancho Mirage, knows how to do goofball, laugh-out-loud, escapist fluff. The current production, Charles Busch's one-act comedy, THE DIVINE SISTER, produced by Paul Taylor and Mark Fivecoat, and directed by J. Stegar Thompson, is no exception. THE DIVINE SISTER is a divine parody of movies and plays involving nuns and monks - THE DaVINCI CODE, SONG OF BERNADETTE, AGNES OF GOD, THE TROUBLE WITH ANGELS, THE SINGING NUN, and heaven only knows what else. It also contains a liberal dose of every mystery that springs surprises at the last minute in the form of outrageous coincidences.

Mr. Thompson has had a busy season, having played the monster in Palm Canyon Theatre's YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN, as well as a dramatic role in LOVE! VALOUR! COMPASSION! at Desert Rose. Here, he demonstrates his considerable directing skill in this zany farce in which each actor except one plays a dual role, and where each must leave his or her dignity behind.

The humor is barbed and much of it is R-rated. Mr. Busch's script is not as insulting to Catholics as THE BOOK OF MORMON is to Mormons, but there is nonetheless plenty to cause offense, including a deicide joke, a joke about the nuns' marriage to Jesus, and a sequence discussing the length of a male cast member's member. However, even most of the bad-taste humor is hilarious.

It is almost impossible to describe the over-the-top story, which involves a sinister monk (Timm McBride -- an earlier version of the story incorrectly said that the monk was played by Jim Strait), and a German nun (Alden West), who are up to something nefarious at St. Veronica's Convent and Grade School in 1966 Pittsburgh. Meanwhile the Mother Superior (Jim Strait, Desert Rose's artistic director) and her sidekick, tough-guy Sister Acacius (Lorraine Williamson), doggedly pursue funding to repair the crumbling building that the school inhabits. When they beg for help from an atheist with secrets, Mrs. Levinson (Adina Lawson), she at first wants nothing to do with the nuns and throws them out.

Agnes, a postulant (Allison Feist), sees visions and believes she can heal sick people. Are those stigmata on her hands? Jeremy (also Timm McBride), a middle-aged, good-looking man who works for a film company and who is a friend of Mrs. Levinson's, is seeking the rights to Agnes's story, but Mother Superior will not accede, even though selling the motion picture rights would solve the school's hellacious financial problems. Most of this is part of the wacky plot's set-up, and occurs before the characters start uncovering each other's secrets and discovering bizarre coincidences that lead to the inevitable happy ending.

The actors, in keeping with the outrageous plot, play the emotional scenes perfectly - as if they were in a bad soap opera that is so overblown that it unintentionally morphs into a campy comedy. Only Mr. Strait, as the Mother Superior, who is supposed to be the sane anchor of this screwy bunch, is permitted to play his role straight-faced until the revelations hit too close to home and his character, too, joins the lunacy. Mr. Strait remains easily identifiable as male, both when he inhabits Mother Superior's habit and when he cross-dresses in flashback as Mother Superior's worldly young self. (Note: I bet most readers missed the second pun in the preceding sentence.) Mr. Strait and Mr. Thompson thus telegraph that all is not as it seems even with the calm, reasonable Mother Superior. Contributing to the camp is that the cast lip-synchs - badly, undoubtedly on purpose - to well known G-rated songs.

Desert Rose's facilities are simple, but Mr. Thompson (who doubles as sound designer) and set designer Thomas L. Valach make the most of the space. Characters enter the stage via the center aisle, and the clever backdrop is painted to resemble rocks used in historic churches. Not all the costumes are habits, and costume designer Kathryn Ferguson has come up with a bunch of outfits that perfectly fit the silliness. I especially liked her evil monk robe, which resembles Emperor Palpatine's in the STAR WARS movies. The rest of the tech crew, which is also excellent, consists of Phil Murphy (lighting design), Toni Molano (wig stylist, assisted by cast member Timm McBride), and Steve Fisher (stage manager).

I highly recommend this production of THE DIVINE SISTER for those who enjoy zany comedy. Please, however, do not confuse the show with the more family-friendly NUNSENSE: THE MEGA-MUSICAL, which Desert Theatreworks is currently presenting - both shows are hilarious, but THE DIVINE SISTER is inappropriate for kids.

THE DIVINE SISTER will be presented through Sunday, March 29, 2015, on Friday and Saturday evenings at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. The Desert Rose Playhouse is located just north of Frank Sinatra Boulevard, near the Emperor Buffet, at 69-620 Highway 111, Rancho Mirage, CA 92270. The Box Office opens at 4 p.m. before evening performances and at noon on Sundays. Tickets are $30 for the evening performances and $28 dollars for matinees. Tickets are available at the box office, by phone at 760-202-3000, and by internet at www.desertroseplayhouse.org. There is no service charge for internet or phone orders.

Following THE DIVINE SISTER, Luke Yankee will appear with his new one-man show, DIVA DISH! THE SECOND HELPING, for two performances only, on Saturday, April 4th at 8 p.m., and Sunday, April 5th at 2 p.m. Desert Rose will close out its season with Douglas Carter Beane's THE LITTLE DOG LAUGHED, which will run from April 17-May 17, 2015.

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