Bad Habits
Reviewed by Taylor Kass
Ruskin Group Theatre Company
Through January 26
It’s going to take a miracle to save St. Cyril’s from the clutches of a greedy Bishop. Luckily, a miracle comes knocking one stormy December night in the figure of Maria (Kelsey Griswold), a young girl with a dark past and an uncanny ability to speak with God. The sisters of St. Cyril’s have a choice to make — keep the vulnerable Maria safe, or exploit her skills to save the bankrupt convent. A world premiere based on a new script by Steve Mazur, the Ruskin Theatre Group’s Bad Habits has all the ingredients of an enjoyable ensemble comedy, but its structural flaws and lagging pace make it underwhelming.
At the heart of the story is a quirky crew of nuns who run St. Cyril’s convent and elementary school. Each has a distinct personality and her own naughty bad habits. Unfortunately, in this production, there is little chemistry among the cast: Rather than play off each other like a true ensemble, each performer seems to be vying solely for her own laughs.
While Alley Mills plays the nuns’ Mother Superior, the show’s Hail Mary is really Orson Bean, iconic actor and comedian of the stage and screen who still has killer comedic timing. However, his character — a cynical Bishop who wants to seize St. Cyril’s property and turn it into an eponymous cathedral — is confusingly crafted and behaves illogically. As hilarious as it is to see a 90-year-old bishop tell crude jokes, it doesn’t make sense that he would be telling them to the audience at a children’s Christmas pageant.
While Mazur’s script has moments of clever dialogue, almost all the scenes are purely expository. Any dramatic tension within the plot and among the characters is never fully fleshed out, so the stakes seem low. Several segments involve audience participation, but these feel unearned without a strong plot to support them. And while there are a couple of uniquely funny jokes, the long sequences of nun puns and non-sequiturs are never quite as funny as the script thinks they are. Comedy is at its best when characters are fighting tooth and nail for what they want and bumping into ridiculous obstacles along the way, but Bad Habits lacks the essential drive that makes comedy sing.
Ruskin Group Theatre, 3000 Airport Ave., Santa Monica; Fri.-Sat., 8 p.m.; Sun., 2 p.m.; through Jan. 26 (Note: no performances Dec. 27-29 or Jan. 3-5). (310) 397-3244 or www.ruskingrouptheatre.com. Running time: two hours with a 10-minute intermission.
