Anna Burnside reviews a disappointing entry in the current season of A Play, A Pie and A Pint.
Pantomime, like rich fruit cake with marzipan, is a treat because it’s not available all year round. In the spring sunshine its smut and relentless one-liners feel crass and overblown.
The omens are there from the start of Nun of Your Business, set in the gift shop of St Boaby’s on the Knob. A fingering joke within the first few minutes seals the deal.
The plot is more farce than panto, with a cat burglar, a mother superior on the make, a novice who doesn’t seem to have got the hang of holy orders and a visit from a higher-up that goes disastrously wrong. But the execution is December-ready, right down to a set piece charades sequence.
There is even a moment when the audience can feel the writer, James Peake, typing “Oh no he’s not,” then deleting it. Reluctantly.
Instead of dialling down the puerility, director Laila Noble leans in. The performances are one note, with Pauline Goldsmith a nuance-free Mammy Superior. Laura Lovemore, as the confused Sister Mary Mary, is at least given a little more to do. Lee Harris, the cat burglar, strips down to his pants in the pursuit of some visual gags.
The whole thing feels as tired and tawdry as old tinsel.
Nun of Your Business performs at Oran Mor’s A Play, A Pie and A Pint until April 26, 2025.
Photo by Tommy Ga-Ken Wan.
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