Hardly a classic...

Look, I'm hip to where the play/film is coming from, but at the end of the day it's just too slight and cheesy to really be worth anyone's time. Part of the problem is that the characters are ALL caricatures...not just Sister Mary.

The play's short length is also a real problem...hence the film's addition of "background" scenes of the characters getting to the pageant, flashbacks to the characters as children, etc. All of this was intended to fill out the skimpy play, which just doesn't have enough "meat" to really shock. It's gently mocking when it should have been scathing (you even get the impression the writer might still be a little afraid of his own "Sister Mary").

Part of criticism is the ability to realize that just because something lines up with how you look at the world (in this case, religion), it shouldn't get a free pass. This is an anemic, underdeveloped play that lacks even the satiric wit of an episode of The Daily Show. The actors give it their all, but the material just isn't strong enough.

I'll take Stewart and Colbert over Durang anyday...this play epitomizes all that is dated and contrived about "theeAHtA".