Sister Mary Ignatius Explains it All is a one-act play by Christopher Durang that has proven to be one of the most durable and reliable crowd-pleasers of the latter 20th century. Since its very first production by the Ensemble Studio Theater in NYC on December 14, 1979, the dark comedy seems to be playing somewhere in the world on any given day. The single act running time, bare essentials setting requirements, widespread appeal of its thematic exploration of the evil of authoritarianism and corrosively bitter dark humor that seems always on the verge of transforming the story into a straight up dramatic thriller has made the play a constant presence among community, college and repertory theaters.
Among the many famous names who have taken on the challenge of playing the titular psychotic nun when produced at higher levels of the theatrical hierarchy are Cloris Leachman and Lynn Redgrave. The actress who originated the part of Sister Mary Ignatius, Elizabeth Franz, picked up an Obie Award—the Off-Broadway equivalent of the Tony Award. Durang also won the Obie. Diane Keaton starred in an HBO movie adaptation.
Although the play’s strongly presented opposition to the abuse of authority holds widespread appeal, Durang’s specific personification of that evil in the form of a Catholic nun has made his play not just one of the most often performed plays written in the 20th century, but one of the most controversial. A 1982 production by the Theater Project in St. Louis spurred denunciations by the local Catholic diocese, boycotts, protests and eventually culminated in the bill being introduced in the Missouri state legislature which would have banned future grants to the Theater Project, slash budget funding for the arts and penalize theaters for mounting productions deemed offensive to the public. Although ultimately the bill was narrowly defeated, the response to Sister Mary Ignatius Explains it All in St. Louis set a pattern which has recurred in sites ranging from the Boston—the center of American Catholicism—to Ponca City, Oklahoma which is most certainly not.
