The SpeakEasy Stage Company's New England premiere is able both to go over the top and to capture the nuances of Guirgis's characters. Sister Rose, for example, is neither the grotesque sadist of a Christopher Durang play nor a pure soul ministering to the poor. As those who've gathered to mourn the nun recall, she was alcoholic and often physically abusive to her students, but she was also one of the few people who truly cared about them. And no matter how cynical they are, they need to pay respect.
It's "Mean Streets" leavened by "The Bells of St. Mary's." Guirgis has learned the poetic use of the F word (and quite a few others that can't be printed here) from David Mamet. The rants and riffs of his characters are often a brilliant mix of street smarts and wry writing.
Take Rooftop, a hip ne'er-do-well who, to avoid meeting his ex, steps into a confessional. The legless, misanthropic priest asks him what he's afraid of, which elicits: "Goddamnit, Father, I'm afraid a everything! . . . Afraid I'm never gonna be the person I thought I'd be, back when I had all the time in the world to get there . . . [My ex-wife] don't like me! I don't like me! And I'm afraid that the person I'll like least wherever I go will always be me!"
Rooftop is played by the amazing Vincent E. Siders, who has turned in two of the best performances of the season in Boston -- as Sally Hemings's brother in "Monticel' " and now as Rooftop. Siders goes so deeply into his characters that it's hard to imagine them being played any differently, let alone any better.
And he's just about matched here by four strong female actors: Jacqui Parker, Elaine Theodore, Jennifer Young, and Stacy Fischer (whose downturned, nerdish mouth is enough to send you into a giggle fit). Each of the women they play has her own major problems, and each actor is a joy to watch exploring them.
