A beloved yet feared nun has died but, when her previous Harlem students
start to show up for the wake, the body is missing. Sister Rose was strict but
she also cared for the youngsters and understood their individual need for
love. Now adults, they have moved on to lives of hostility and disappointed
dreams. Yet in this powerful play by Stephen Adly Guirgis we see that under their
rage and fear is a deep loss of love.
The language
is raw and the action often hilarious but emotional truth runs deep in this
moving story about reexamining the past. The body may be missing
but the real search is for the lost soul in each of them. Not having the capacity
to show love, their spirits are as mutilated as the corpse of Sister Rose.
Some of the cast are Los Angeles City College students
but, under Leslie Ferreira’s empowering direction, the dynamic performers all work
at a highly professional level. Outstanding are pros William
Knight as a testy priest; John Christopher as a boozy cop, and Martel Huggins
as a loquacious disc jockey. Hurrahs to all the rest: Tamisha Estrada, Alvaro Ramirez & Daniel
Palma, Jessica Atkinson, Christelle Baguidy, Ali Ahmad & Tyler
Smith, Michael Woodruff and Alisa Baggio.
Exhilarating original
music is composed by Wes Myers; excellent scenic design by Tesshi Nakagawa,
lighting by James
Moody, and costumes by Zeynep Fisenk. Produced by Beth Hogan and Kevin
Morrissey and presented by Odyssey Theatre
Ensemble in association with LACC Theatre Academy as part of the Odyssey’s
student outreach program THE ODDS.
At the Odyssey Theatre,
2055 S.
Sepulveda
Blvd., West Los Angeles. For reservations (310) 477-2055
or www.OdysseyTheatre.com. 
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