The Mysteries of the Convent by Peepshow Inc. May 31, 2007

The Mysteries of the Convent by Peepshow Inc.

Abbotsford Convent, May 31, 2007 to June 10, 2007

Reviewer: Kate Herbert on May 31, 2007

The Abbotsford Convent, formerly run by the contemplative Good Shepherd Order of nuns, is a sprawling site by the Yarra and is steeped in the history of its original residents.

In The Mysteries of the Convent, Peepshow Inc. incorporates puppetry, visual elements, music and comedy

in this site-specific performance. As we are led on a guided tour, characters, both real and animated, representing the nuns and young women of the convent, appear and disappear mysteriously through doors, stairways and even laundry baskets.

We begin our theatrical tour of the Convent Building in the Bishop’s Parlour, the only room where a man could visit, after an introduction by our hilariously unprepared ring-in guide (Anna Scheer), who, for the entire tour, checks her scribbled notes in an attempt to cobble together some genuine history and amateur art criticism.

An ancient, toothless puppet woman, seated in an armchair and manipulated by an unseen puppeteer (Juanita Pope), recalls her childhood at the convent. Orphans and girls with illegitimate babies were brought here for education or rehabilitation and to work in the industrial laundry. There are frightening echoes of the punishing treatment of girls by the harsh Madgalen Sisters in Ireland.

A silent, pink-haired girl, portrayed by both a puppet and an actor (Fiona Gillies), flits furtively from room to room, appearing surprisingly in different locations. She avoids the stern and frightening Mother Superior  (Angela Orrego) who supervises our walking tour and hides ghostly nuns’ faces inside her habit.

Many of the scenes are accompanied by a sonorous double bass (Delia Poon) with occasional snatches of an Irish ballad, a latin hymn and even four nuns dancing to Tom Lehrer’s Vatican Rag (Lauren Simmonds, Kris Chainey, Nick Barlow, Poon).

Two lyrical scenes involve washerwomen. In the eerie chill of the basement, four ghostly puppet heads hang sheet upon which images are projected. It is here, in the cellar, that we witness the escape of the pink-haired girl and hope she made it safely to the other side of the river.

There are some charming moments in this performance, directed by Melinda Hetzel. There is certainly some potential for further development of the story and the sense of history in this evocative location.

By Kate Herbert