I had seen Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All for You years ago when I was living in Austin, remembered it fondly, so I picked it up back in December while I was working on my own one-act play (which I have now finished and feel quite pleased with). Durang spears the Catholic faith without mercy, and this would be hard to watch if it also wasn’t so funny. And while Catholics may have the most problem with some of this, other literal beliefs might be surprised to find themselves reflected in Sister Mary and her unwavering trust in herself. Since my play was a satire as well, I tried to take as much constructive evidence from this that I could use.

The other play in this volume is okay. Clever enough, I think it would be more effective on stage. It could be that I could visualize Sister Mary having seen a production of it, while I came at An Actor’s Nightmare cold.

[Finished January 1999]