From the co-creator of the international smash hit Late Nite Catechism, comes the new play, Changing Habits: The Nun Monologues, a look at the influence and future of Catholic nuns and the impact they had on millions of Americans.
This performance is a one-night only premiere as a fundraiser for The Archdiocesan Council of Catholic Women, and Good Shepherd House. It will take place at The Athenaeum Theatre mainstage on Saturday February 16th, 8:00 PM. Tickets are $42-62. $62 tickets gain you admission to a private pre-show meet and greet with the actors. Tickets may be purchased by calling (773) 935-6860 or going to www.athenaeumtheatre.org . The Athenaeum Theatre is located at 2936 N. Southport Ave. in Chicago.
Written by Vicki Quade, this new play brings back to comedic life the golden days of a Catholic education, while at the same time looks forward to the future and what legacy nuns hope to leave for the world.
Changing Habits: The Nun Monologues is a play of monologues about growing up Catholic, being Catholic, learning from nuns, stories and confessions from actual nuns. It's humorous and bittersweet, nostalgic and current, taking a sweeping look at the culture of nuns in our society. Three actors onstage inhabit the characters in the various vignettes.
Quade based her play on the 2006 humor book, Don't Chew Jesus!: A Collection of Memorable Nun Stories, by Danielle Schaaf and Michael Prendergast . In their book, the authors interviewed hundreds of people for anecdotes and recollections about the nuns in their lives.
"Sisters were the foot soldiers of Catholic education," says John Powers, author of Do Patent Leather Shoes Really Reflect Up? "Those of us who marched with them are glad we did. Don't Chew Jesus! gives us a chance to relive that journey."
Quade received the book from the authors, who had wondered whether she could turn the book into something for the stage. To gather material for the play, Quade e-mailed, called, and sent out facebook notices, asking friends and others to share their memories about growing up Catholic and about the nuns who taught and nurtured them.
The play is built around those interviews, looking back at the nuns and their influences, interviewing men and women who remember them as teachers, but also looking forward, letting nuns talk about their own work, culture and legacies.
In one piece, a nun revisits her own memories of why she went into the Sisterhood and where she sees the dwindling number of nuns ending up. Another comes from a woman who ran away from home as a young teenager in order to join a Catholic boarding school in the hinterlands of Illinois, much to the chagrin of her parents, who had no intention of seeing their daughter become a nun. Later on, we see a scene about a man who, as a boy, was such a teacher's pet; he was selected by the nuns in his school to be May Queen, an honor normally reserved for some lucky 8th grade girl!
Vicki Quade knows a lot about nuns. In 1993, she brought to life an idea from co-author Maripat Donovan for a one woman show that would become the hit comedy, Late Nite Catechism, which has been running in Chicago since 1993 and turned into a national and international hit, with productions in more than 150 cities.
Late Nite Catechism and its various sequels have been used for fundraisers by schools and parishes throughout the country. In addition, the comedies have been used to raise much needed retirement funds for orders of nuns throughout the country, something Changing Habits: The Nun Monologues will also continue to do. Through her comedies, Quade has helped raise more than $2 million for nuns nationwide.
For her work raising awareness of the plight of retired Sisters, Vicki Quade received the Spirit of Benedict Award in 2003 from the Benedictine Sisters of Chicago, and, in 2005, she was given a Partners in Mission Award by the Sisters of the Living Word in Arlington Heights, IL. She was honored in 2009 by the Sisters of Providence in Indiana for donations to that order, and in 2012 she was honored by the Sisters of St. Francis in Wisconsin.
The authors of Don't Chew Jesus!, the book, have also designated a portion of their book proceeds for S.O.A.R. (Support Our Aging Religious) a national non-profit organization serving retired religious.
For more information about the play, Changing Habits: The Nun Monologues, check out the website at: www.changinghabits.biz, or call 773-388-0730.
