From left: Susie Duecker plays Sister Anne Frances, Gillian Todd is Lindsey, and John Marshall is Michael in a revival of Sister Calling My Name, by Buzz McLaughlin.
Buzz McLaughlin’s 1996 play, Sister Calling My Name, tells a familial story of loss, love and forgiveness. At the center is Michael (John Marshall) an English literature professor whose life has not gone according to his expectations. He has recently undergone a divorce and been denied tenure, and the last thing he wants to do is visit his mentally disabled sister Lindsey (Gillian Todd), who made his life extremely difficult growing up.
Sister Anne is the caretaker of Lindsey in the family drama. Photographs by Michael Abrams.
Michael has not seen Lindsey in 18 years, and he would like to keep it that way. She has been diagnosed with schizophrenia and is also developmentally disabled. Lying on one of the set’s white platforms, Michael relates his strong feelings about both his life and his sister. Although he has received many calls and letters asking him to come visit her, he has ignored all of them.
However, after learning that the woman who has been calling and sending him letters is the former love of his life, now Sister Anne Frances (Susie Duecker), Michael finally agrees to pay his sister a visit. He is also curious to reacquaint himself with Sister Anne Frances, who has told him that he must appear in court as a legal representative for Lindsey and her estate, because she has become an accomplished artist, selling her work for substantial amounts. This seems to work, and he flies back to his hometown, where Lindsey is staying with Sister Anne Frances at Sisters of Mercy's Home for Women.
The interaction of Michael and Sister Anne Frances’s first encounter is awkward and uncomfortable. Michael still resents her becoming a nun because she broke his heart. He behaves with passive-aggressiveness toward her and resists her suggestions of getting to know his sister’s life and/or artwork. She then reveals that he did not need to appear in court: she made that up to get him to come. Although the idea of a lying nun might raise eyebrows, McLaughlin’s play glosses over it:
Sister Anne: I assessed the situation and concluded that Lindsey's need for your involvement in her life at this particular time—
Michael: There will be no court order?
Sister Anne: I take full responsibility for misleading you.
Michael: Well, congratulations. Here I sit. Thank you very much.
Michael has an awkward meeting with the sister has a long been estranged from.
Sister Anne Frances serves as a symbol of faith in Sister Calling My Name. Missions took her away from their hometown for many years to Europe but on her return, she inquired about Lindsey and petitioned to remove her from the inadequate state facility where she was residing. Anne Frances then became her legal guardian, and has used faith and art therapy to bring Lindsey out of the catatonic state she had been in for numerous years. But neither faith nor art therapy have fully healed many of Lindsey’s wounds: she constantly calls out for Michael. As she paints, she says she is making pictures for him as a gift. Sister Anne Frances believes that Michael has a part to play in furthering his sister’s recovery.
Under the direction of Peter Dobbins, Todd’s performance as Lindsey is compelling, in spite of dialogue that is necessarily repetitive to reflect her mental disability: the actress captures the heart, innocence and pain that Lindsey’s character has experienced.
The scenic design by Daniel Prosky for the black-box theater is nicely organized and works well with McLaughlin’s flashbacks. Prosky has divided the stage into three white, low platforms with desks; they serve as a childhood home, the church (with the nun’s office), and the hospital. The lighting design by Michael Abrams transitions between time frames smoothly and works harmoniously with the production.
McLaughlin’s work examines the way that mental illness can both separate and unite families, and the difficulty of dealing with the heaviness and trauma of living with someone who is mentally disabled.
Buzz McLaughlin’s Sister Calling My Name plays at the Sheen Center (18 Bleecker St. at the corner of Elizabeth Street). Evening performances are at 7:30 p.m. Thursday–Saturday; matinees are at 2 p.m. on Saturdays, with a special Sunday matinee at 2 p.m. on Feb. 17. Tickets are $35. Tickets/reservations are available by calling (212) 925-2812, by visiting the box office (11 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday through Friday and one hour before the show) or online at sheencenter.org.
