Keene State Theatre Stages "Agnes of God," A Searing Drama
KEENE, N.H. 9/26/11 - The Keene State College Theatre and Dance Department presents Agnes of God by John Pielmeier, a psychological drama about delusion, to be performed at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, October 11 to 15, with a 2 p.m. matinee on Saturday, October 15, in the Wright Theatre of the Redfern Arts Center on Brickyard Pond. Tickets are $10 for the general public, $8 for senior citizens and youth 17 or younger, and $6 for KSC students. Call the box office at 603-358-2168 or order online at www.keene.edu/racbp.
Vaughn West, a KSC theatre faculty member, directs this grim drama with a cast of three women, set in a psychiatrist’s office, an apt place given the questions that simmer under the mysterious plot. As the title suggests, Agnes is a nun, brought to the offices of Dr. Martha Livingstone by her Mother Superior after a foul crime is committed. It is not long since Agnes has been discovered, unconscious, in her room, her newborn baby strangled and thrown into the wastepaper basket. The stage is set: a murder has been committed and Agnes appears guilty beyond doubt and only a plea of insanity can now save her from imprisonment. But many questions remain. Who was the baby’s father? Why can Agnes remember nothing of either the conception or the birth? Why is the Mother Superior so desperate for Agnes to cease sessions with the therapist and return to the convent?
“This play speaks to what we need as humans, about what sustains us as people,” said West, who explained that the play was chosen to coincide with the “What Sustains Us” theme of Keene State’s 2011 Biennial Symposium.
All humans need to believe in something, West continued. “Some characters in this play believe in God and another character believes in science, but all find that the beliefs that sustain them are shaken.”
Agnes of God is more a memory play with the psychiatrist as the main character recollecting her sessions with Agnes by talking directly to the audience. Mother Superior and Agnes are seen off center stage re-enacting what took place in the past.
Obsession is also an underlying theme of the play, said West. “The psychiatrist is obsessed with what happened to Agnes, who has no memory of events. Mother Superior is obsessed with saving Agnes for God, and Agnes is obsessed with God and her unpleasant past.” The play answers some questions about the circumstances of the baby’s death, but leaves some questions unanswered because neither faith nor science can provide all the answers.
All three roles are played by senior acting students. Jessie Montville of Winchendon, Mass., portrays Dr. Martha Livingstone, the psychiatrist; Ashley Simeone of Richmond, N.H., is Agnes; and Sarah Mathews of Milton, N.H., plays Mother Miriam Ruth. Elizabeth Streeter of Troy, N.Y., is the stage manager.
