by Steve Desroches
It was Christmastime and actor Tim McArthur was at home in London hungover, lying on his couch watching The Sound of Music, which is really the Citizen Kane of nun movies if you think about it. There’s Sister Act of course, and The Song of Bernadette and The Bells of St. Mary’s, as well as Agnes of God, The Nun’s Story, and Lilies of the Field. But the nuns in The Sound of Music take on the Nazis, and that’s pretty bad ass. The holidays are a busy time for the theaters and cabarets in London, and McArthur was putting the finishing touches on a comedy show he was working on. As Julie Andrews was crossing the Alps, he thought dressing as a nun might be the perfect gag to close out the upcoming performance. But tossing on a habit and orthopedic shoes wouldn’t be enough for the seasoned actor, who has created multiple characters over his career. She’d need more. Who is she? Where is she from? As McArthur began to answer those questions, Sister Mary was born.
Sister Mary was found on the doorstep of St. Peter’s of the Sisters of the Third Removed, right in the middle of London’s famed West End. It’s believed that she is the secret love child of British musical theater star Elaine Paige, and so it’s no surprise as the nuns raised Sister Mary to be a nun herself, she’d also have star quality, always whistling a showtune and ready to hoof it as she’s also got her tap shoes as close to her heart as the baby Jesus. But 20 years ago, when McArthur presented Sister Mary for the first time at a cabaret in Piccadilly Circus, he thought the nun with razzamatazz tanked, as the show only sold 30 tickets and the response seemed a bit ho-hum. So he went out with his best mate and had a few drinks thinking the rest of the run would be canceled. However, when he woke up, he saw that the Evening Standard had given the show a rave review and five stars. He did the show that night—a little fuzzy from tying one on the night—before in front of a packed house, and then every night thereafter in a sold-out run. Now, all these years later, Sister Mary has flown over the pond like little Sally Field as Sister Bertrille to land at Red Room to present Sister Mary’s Playtime, a wild rumpus of a show where the audience gets in on the action.
“I’m surprised how much you guys are up for it, to be part of the show,” says McArthur. “Back in the U.K. the audiences can be a bit reserved, sitting with arms folded. But here everyone is so ready for everything.”
McArthur has only been in the States a few weeks, having brought Sister Mary to the Laurie Beechman Theater in New York City before coming to Provincetown, where Sister Mary hit the ground running opening the show, barking up and down Commercial Street, and appearing at Showgirls to introduce herself to Provincetown-at-large. And with a few shops under her belt, or more appropriately, her habit, Sister Mary is off to an absolutely divine start of
a summer run.
The conceit of Sister Mary’s Playtime is aptly described by the show’s name. While there is a narrative and a focus, it quickly becomes a fly-by-the-seat-of-a-nun’s-knickers show, as Sister Mary works the crowd throughout, turning the cabaret space into a rocking convent of novices ready to get down and party. While there may be a naughty innuendo, the show, says McArthur, is friendly to people of all ages, including children, as it’s open to anyone with a free spirit, a jazzy sense of humor, and an open heart.
“People can’t really say no to her,” says McArthur. “I mean, she’s a nun that tap dances. How can you say no to a nun in tap shoes? And if you do, she brings out the ruler!”
Sitting down in a quiet spot in town on an otherwise crazed and crowded Fourth of July, one that is fraught with national unease and anxiety in the United States, back in the United Kingdom McArthur’s fellow citizens just voted in a politically tense general election there, too, after the disastrous results of Brexit and multiple scandals from the ruling Conservative Party. These are indeed troubling times on both sides of the Atlantic, which makes an occasional escape and comedy, all the more important. It’s also why there’s no political jokes or references to the troubles of today in Sister Mary’s Playtime—both to provide a refugee from reality, and because she tried it in New York and it bombed. As McArthur, and Sister Mary, find their footing in Provincetown, they’re both learning that Commercial Street is a bit of a theater space of its own, and that with all the wild and wonderful sights along the main strip, it’s a nun that gets the most stares and gasps.
“It’s really fascinating,” says McArthur. “Especially when I’m barking. If I’m walking down the street and people see me from behind, you can her the chatter. And when I turn around there’s always a double take. For a lot of reasons I’m not what they expect to see walking down the street in Provincetown.”
Sister Mary’s Playtime is performed at Red Room, 258 Commercial St., Provincetown, through September 8 at 5:30 p.m. For tickets ($35/$45) and specific show dates and times, visit redroom.club. Tickets are also available at the door.
