The Trial of Mother Teresa, a Nimbus Theatre production at Minneapolis Theater Garage on 5/30/09
By: David de Young
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Roneet Aliza Rahamim (left) and Jane Froiland (right) in the Trial of Mother Teresa. Publicity photo by John Behm
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Directed by Nimbus co-artistic director Liz Neerland, the play introduces us to Mother Teresa (Roneet Aliza Rahamim) as she is welcomed to this “no man’s land” by Joan of Arc (Jane Froiland), long dead, and for years interested, we learn, in meeting her. Joan lays out tea and snacks for Teresa. “You don’t need to eat anymore, but some still enjoy it,” Joan tells her newly deceased friend.
For the next two hours, the two spiritual leaders become acquainted, but the central action of the play revolves around the two separate trials being staged by church officials to determine if either of these women deserves canonization or should instead be censured. “We make saints,” one of the church officials proclaims. Another asserts that in this day and age one is “presumed ordinary until proven holy.”
Director Neerland keeps this play paced at a leisurely trot. It neither drags, nor does it clip along. We get an excellent performance from Froiland as Joan, who brings grace and wisdom to the role. Another stand out performance full of deadpan comedic flair comes from Eric Ringham as one of the cardinals. (Ringham has another zinger of a role as the filmmaker Malcom Muggeridge, who shot a documentary of Mother Teresa in 1969 called Something Beautiful for God which helped make her an international superstar.) Ringham is surely one of the reasons this production is a success. Mother Teresa herself is played less strongly by Roneet Aliza Rahamim. The shy hesitation Rahamim brings to the role was likely intentional, but for some reason I expected Mother Teresa to be a stronger, less apologetic female personality who would have more than been prepared to hold her own were she to encounter Joan of Arc in the afterlife.
The panel of cardinals is rounded out with fitting businesslike matter-of-factness by Heidi Berg, KariAnn Craig and David Otto Simanek.
One interesting issue raised by this play is institutionalized sexism of the sort built into which clothing choices appropriate for men and women. An argument can easily be made that if Joan of Arc had not donned men’s clothing to go to war, she might never have been accused of heresy. But it’s a Catch 22, since dressed as a woman she would have been unlikely to be able to lead the French army into battle. Dressing as a man also kept her safer from sexual assault in prison after she had been captured.
Among the charges levied against Mother Teresa in her “confirmation hearings” is an accusation that she did not believe in the human soul and that on several occasions she did not use her Mission’s money to save human lives as often as that might have been possible. There is also at least one documented case where Mother Teresa’s Mission had accepted money from someone who had defrauded investors, but she still refused to give it back even when she learned the truth about the money’s source.
One of my main takeaways from this play was that even saints and prospective saints are multifaceted people who experience moments of doubt and make mistakes. It’s unclear whether anyone would be canonized when subjected to the inquisition of this panel. Just be thankful saint making is not yet a reality TV show in the style of Project Runway or Britain’s Got Talent.
The Trial of Mother Teresa runs through June 21st. Reservations and more information are available from www.nimbustheatre.com
Location Info:
Minneapolis Theater Garage
Artist Info: nimbus theatre
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