So "once a catholic" when it first came out was seen as a shocking indictment of the Catholic Church particularly the unsympathetic and stereotyped treatment of catholic schoolgirls in schools run by narrow minded nuns. Of course since then the Catholic Church has been rocked by a series of scandals which aren't addressed here. Inevitably given its 1957 setting the play feels dated in the issues it is concerned with (the adolescent pre-full adulthood of the schoolgirls and their interactions with the nuns (struggling with a world of teddy boys and premarital sex). More than anything else it's a nostalgic piece addressing the issues of a generation gap.
One of the big draws for this production is its director, Kathy Burke, and she doesn't disappoint. Although she herself doesn't appear, her choice of Molly Logan as Mary Moonie the innocent and put upon main protagonist echoes so many of Burke's own stage and screen creations that you can't help but assume that this character had special resonance for the director.
All in all it's a strong cast with engaging performances teetering on the correct side of parody though I'd like to give special mention to Cecilia Noble as Mother Peter and Calum callaghan's bemused teddy boy Derek.
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