Don't step on the ping pong balls!

Forget the singing nun, that's a ruse to pull curious minds into the theatre. These are the reflections of writer, director and performer Gary Carter.

It's unashamedly pretentious. The actors look the audience straight in the face and proclaim "we are not pretending to be other people, any metaphors or symbolism are your own." But the performers go about their business so 'unpretentiously' you are voyeuristically drawn in. Once there, you can't help but sense that you are being watched in return and the audience is repeatedly challenged to scrap its assumptions. For starters, you soon realise that what you've come to see has only a passing interest to the Singing Nun. Is this a theatre studies lecture? A high-brow joke? We hear about Carter's early life, his homosexuality, his love of Tarzan! We meet Kate Seaward. She dons a tea towel to become the Singing Nun and breaks into stuttering versus of the 60s hit 'Dominque.' She is joined by New York cabaret singer Natalie Gamsu, who's lush vocals convey the tragedy of life's casual indifference. And then there's cellist Kathryn Locke, whose inspired playing style is simply breathtaking. Acts and Revelations is worth going to if only to listen to her (haunting and percussive, like nothing you've ever heard before). Throughout the play you have no idea what will happen next. "This is the interval" Carter points out and, at the end, we are reminded to "be careful not to step on the ping-pong balls." It continually asks you to think again and, although part of you wants to be spoon fed, you can't help but be affected in some way. Leaving the Duke's studio theatre, one member of the audience obviously hated it but "the singer was brilliant," she admitted. These are hugely talented performers and it's great to have them here in Lancaster. The play runs until January 31.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.