`Little Heart' an effective, if uneven, production
It's pretty exciting when a Santa Cruz theater company gets to offer a world premiere to local audiences.
That describes “Little Heart,” by Irene O'Garden, a renowned playwright, poet and essayist. Her play “Little Heart” tells the story of Corita Kent — a name that may not be familiar to many unless they are familiar with silkscreen art.
Many audience members likely won't recognize her works, but when the play reveals she is the artist behind the simple yet effective art for the “LOVE” Forever stamp, some may realize they've seen other examples of her talent without knowing who created it.
Still, because “Little Heart” has just recently been written by O'Garden, it's sometimes obvious that it will benefit from more rewrites and revisions.
Director Susan Myer Silton and the classy seven actors in this production likely did their best to make “Little Heart” as good as it can be at this juncture.
No doubt it was also a big help that playwright O'Garden sat in on rehearsals to help the actors better understand Corita and the play itself.
But one of the rookie mistakes of a relatively new playwright is to include way too many short, choppy scenes. It's difficult for audiences to grasp the personas of the characters when a lot of the scenes last only a minute or two.
That said, Patty Gallagher as Sister Corita is affecting and real from the moment she arrives at Immaculate Heart College in Hollywood until her death 19 years later. Gallagher's large eyes and eager smile make the audience root for her even when her methods seem a mite unorthodox.
She's been hired to teach art at IMH, which surprises the other nun teaching art there. Sister Maggie (a jovial Sheila Savage) insists that a bottle of Coke a day will help Corita get through teaching the students who don't really want to learn about art but take the class because they think it'll be a lot easier than an advanced mathematics class.
Corita's name translates into “Little Heart” in Spanish, which causes the kindhearted nun Mother Michael (skillfully played by Diana Torres Koss) to tell her she'll call her by that name.
As Cardinal McIntyre who oversees the entire diocese with an iron hand, Jesse Caldwell is effective and demanding. But he has never come across a little spitfire like Corita before.
She tells him she will only teach if she can also have time to make her art. That's because she feels her artwork contains her own spiritual expression and love for her God.
Shaun Carroll makes a moving Father Dan Berrigan, the Jesuit priest who feels compelled to lead protests against what he perceives as the very real social wrongs of the era, especially the Vietnam War and the Watts riots. He had much in common with Sister Corita and urged her to join him in a protest march.
But by that time Corita was far too involved in her artwork and felt she couldn't spare the time. It was a decision she later came to regret. She was now spending her time making art for IBM, for a church Christmas card, long banners for the National Gallery — and neglecting her wart students who were the reason she became a teacher in the first place.
This was a period of both stress and change in the Catholic Church. Nuns first updated their habits to reflect the times and, later, began wearing street clothing. Such changes infuriated Cardinal McIntyre, who felt such modernization was blasphemy. He told Corita and Mother Michael that they couldn't dress that way, but they just ignored his threats.
Threaded throughout the play are some of Corita's guiding principles:
• Doing and making are our only acts of hope.
• Break the rules. Everything is an experiment.
• Be self-disciplined. This means finding someone wise or smart and choosing to follow them.
Two other actors round out the cast: Marie Finch as Viv and Lydia Lyons as Sister Sebastian.
The plot at times strains to make a point. For example, Corita clutches her side in pain several times during the play. This seems to foreshadow that she has some kind of illness but won't give in to it. It's an obvious ploy, but, as written, is too obvious.
Actually, the ending itself seems too pat. But it's likely many changes will be made by O'Garden as she continues to work on and improve her play.
Costume designer B. Modern created a cloak for Cardinal McIntyre that is visually stunning as was the other clothing he wore. The nuns' habits seem authentic as well.
Although Steven C. Gerlach's scenic design is sparse (as befitting a nunnery), the addition of several television screens showing news events of the times add a realistic touch as does the large stainedglass-like structure.
Lighting designer Steven B. Mannshardt provides suitable lighting for the set.
Overall, for a world premiere “Little Heart” is a good effort. With more cuts, changes and better dialogue, it will be even better.