SISTER MARY IGNATIUS EXPLAINS IT ALL FOR YOU Comes to the Hollywood Fringe Festival

Mmmkay Productions has announced a Hollywood Fringe Festival production of Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All for You, written by Christopher Durang and directed by Jeramiah Peay. The cast will feature (in alphabetical order) Shayna Gabrielle, Lea Madda, Michael Mullen, Will Potter, Chris Ramirez, and Liam Risinger. There will be six performances only at Studio|Stage: Sunday 6/12 at 9:30pm; Monday 6/13 at 9pm; Wednesday 6/15 at 6:30pm; Saturday 6/18 at 3:30pm; Monday 6/20 at 9pm; and Friday 6/24 at 9pm. Total running time is 80 minutes.

At a Christmas lecture, Sister Mary Ignatius explains to the audience the basic tenets of Catholicism. She is assisted by her favorite student, seven-year-old Thomas. Half-way into her speech, four of her former students arrive. They remind Sister that she had asked them to come in and perform the pageant they once performed in her class. It quickly becomes apparent that the four have strayed from her teaching and were never asked to come in. They merely want to embarrass her.

Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All for You was first performed in 1979 at the Ensemble Studio Theatre in New York City. Christopher Durang won an Obie Award for the play as did its star Elizabeth Franz. The play was presented again in 1981 at New York's Playwrights Horizons and then moved to off-Broadway where it ran for two-and-a half years. As the run went on, other acclaimed actresses took over the role of Sister, including Nancy Marchand, Kathleen Chalfant, Mary Louise Wilson, and Lynn Redgrave. New York Times theatre critic Frank Rich wrote, "Only a writer of real talent can write an angry play that remains funny and controlled even in its most savage moments. Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All for You confirms that Christopher Durang is just such a writer."

Christopher Durang is known for works of outrageous and often absurd comedy. His plays include Beyond Therapy, Baby with the Bathwater, The Marriage of Bette and Boo, Laughing Wild, Sex and Longing, Betty's Summer Vacation, Miss Witherspoon, Why Torture is Wrong and the People Who Love Them, and Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, among many others. He is the recipient of three Obie Awards and was nominated for a 1978 Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical (A History of the American Film). He won a Tony Award for Best Play in 2013 for Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike. He was also a finalist for the 2006 Pulitzer Prize in Drama for Miss Witherspoon. In 2012, he was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame.

As a director, Jeramiah Peay's credits include The Who's Tommy, Guys and Dolls, Journey, This is Our Youth, Oleanna, and Steel Magnolias. As a production manager, credits include Sleeping Beauty, Celebrity Autobiography, Blind Date, Heart of the City, My Big Gay Italian Wedding, and Employee of the Year. As a stage manager, credits include Ruthless, Zero Hour, Freud's Last Session, Power Balladz, and My First Time.

Tickets are $10 and may be purchased online at www.hollywoodfringe.org/projects/7575 or by phone at (323) 455-4585. All shows will be available for live streaming. Studio|Stage is located at 520 N. Western Avenue in Los Angeles, 90004.

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