In Jessica Dickey’s dark comedy The Convent, six women fly to the south of France to participate in a spiritual retreat, donning the clothes of medieval nuns under the leadership of Mother Abby.

What takes place at the retreat is described as “80s pop, mysticism, hallucinogens (sparingly) and sexual energy”. Dickey’s play uses comedy to deal with strong personal issues, and it opens the door for female actors to balance comedy and drama.

The University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre and Dance will present Dickey’s The Convent, Nov. 20-23 at the Lydia Mendelssohn Theatre.

For director Halena Kays, The Convent is a great casting opportunity with significant roles for every actor in a play that raises important issues.

“It’s a play that is an ensemble that is starring seven women, so that’s unusual for any play to have an all-female cast, and it’s unusual to have an ensemble-based cast where everyone has a lead role and where every character has a full arc, and that's very exciting,” Kays said during an interview.

The play draws on mysticism and features women letting go as they try to deal with their different reasons for wanting to come to this mysterious place in France.

“It’s really fascinating to me putting the sacred and profane together and see what comes of it,” Kays said. “What have women been fighting for since the Middle Ages, what changed, and what hasn’t changed. Where do we find happiness and fulfillment in our lives?”

The issues can be grave, and so is the humor.

“It’s an exciting play and it’s also funny,” Kays said. “It can be silly, it’s a little bit naughty, so it has everything. And most importantly to me is that it kept surprising me at every turn. What I expected didn’t happen. I read a lot of plays and that’s not my usual response.”

Playwright Dickey has said in several interviews that The Convent was an opportunity to deal with her own issues.

“I was searching for the sovereignty of my own life and my right to make decisions for my life,” she said.

This is the serious issues that balance with the comedy.

“Currently, I don’t feel that we have sovereignty over our own bodies in America, and it often seems to me that we are moving backward,” Kays said. “So, I understand where Jessica is coming from. I feel very steamed by this play and understand it. To watch these actors speak these lines where women are directly saying what they want and trying to define how to trust their gut or their inner voice in all different ways in society.”

Dickey’s play is set in a convent, but it is not directly meant to be a Catholic retreat or any particular religion, according to Kays.

“It is definitely spiritual and full of mysticism and moments of magical religious experience,” Kays said.

When preparing the cast, Kays takes a tip from the popular movie comedy.

“I always remember this quote about the [1980s] movie Airplane! The guys that made it, the first time they read [the script] and it was silly and they laughed and laughed, and from there on out they treated it like they were doing a Greek tragedy,” Kays said. “I think about that a lot whenever I’m directing.”

The actors have been doing their research to get a better understanding of their characters.

Audrey Andrews plays Jill.

“My character’s in her 30s and she’s going through a marital crisis at the moment of sorts,” Andrews said. “I have, as an actor, been putting it all together in what she gets in the play. She realizes she needs to leave her husband, and so we’re watching that play out across the string of all these emotions that come from leaving a long-term partner and finding her sovereignty. That’s where Jill is coming from.”

Kays adds, “Jill is one of those people, her outfit is always matching, she has beautiful luggage, she’s done everything, she’s gone to an Ivy League school, she’s a lawyer, she’s done everything society has asked of her, so she should be OK. She’s sort of the icon of that American woman.”

Mary-Kate Mahaney plays Patti.

“Patti was abandoned by her mother as a child, about four years old,” Mahaney said. “She’s been to the convent many times, and she’s trying to reconnect with her mother and trying to have a relationship with her mom, who left her as a child.”

Kays adds: “She’s more aggressive and wrought and angry and disputes things that are happening often. So those are two different ends of the spectrum, but similar ages of the two.”

Adilynn Cardenas is the student assistant director. She hopes that the play might stir some audience members to confront the issues raised in the play.

“I hope that women who watch the play are called to action,” she said. “I hope that women who come to the play are able to find themselves in the characters and are inspired to become the best versions of themselves, and aspire to what they want and be able to make it for themselves. Personally, working on this show has caused me to reflect on what are the things that I want in my life and what’s important to me, and I hope that all people in general have a good time and hope that people see themselves in the characters.”

Kays puts an emphasis on empathy. She said the play was written for a lesbian and queer audience, but is also written for everyone.

“I think it’s not just women who can’t say what they want. It’s not just women who have found a moment in their life when they have a profound disconnection with their life,” Kays said. “I know that from my friends, from all backgrounds, that in different periods in our life we need to reset, we need a moment, we need some answers. This play is beautiful with brave characters in some kind of peace in their life.”

Hugh Gallagher has written theater and film reviews over a 40-year newspaper career and was most recently the managing editor of the Observer & Eccentric Newspapers in suburban Detroit. 

Jessica Dickey’s "The Convent" will be presented by the University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre and Dance at 7:30 pm on November 20, at 8 pm on November 21 and 22, and at 2 pm on November 23 at the Lydia Mendelssohn Theatre, 911 North University Avenue, Ann Arbor. For tickets and more info, go to tickets.smtd.umich.edu or call 734-764-2538.