Master monologist presents ‘My Last Year With the Nuns’ at BPA
Published 11:50 am Friday, November 8, 2013
Bainbridge Performing Arts presents “My Last Year With the Nuns” at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 9.
Master monologist Matt Smith turns his eighth-grade year in 1966-67 into a wild coming-of-age comedy; a comedy grounded in his Catholic education, racism and the joys and horrors that are male adolescence.
In his autobiographical monologue “My Last Year with the Nuns,” the universe of Smith’s younger self is about 10 blocks long. He and his friends roamed the heavily Catholic Capitol Hill neighborhood of Seattle, wandering from St. Joseph’s Church to the Seattle Times newspaper shack, from school playgrounds to a murky and tangled ravine that cuts through the city.
The paper shack lies right on the edge of the racial “red line” drawn to enforce the era’s prejudice, providing a rare forum where white and black kids come together for a few minutes each day before returning to their segregated streets.
Smith’s stories — about the young hooligans he admired but couldn’t bring himself to emulate; about the nun who tried, sometimes cruelly, to steer him and his friends on the path to righteousness; about a fleeting friendship with an African American boy who gives him an unexpected view of escalating trouble — find jolting humor in serious events. “My Last Year with the Nuns” gathered critical and popular acclaim for Smith’s dynamic performance and trenchant writing.
The performance is suitable for ages 13 and older.
Tickets are $20 per person and are available at 206-842-8569 or www.bainbridgeperformingarts.org.
