By Amanda Estes
Staff Writer
    Agnes of God is a play of ideas. The most utilized props on stage are the chairs that represent psychiatrist Dr. Martha Livingston’s office and the cigarettes she chain-smokes throughout the play. Without a flashy set to distract the audience, the pressure is on the actors to captivate the audience for the length of the play. The Portland Players’ production, currently playing until March 25, transplants the audience to Livingston’s office and memory, providing an emotional and thought provoking look at faith: why is it so important and once it is gone, can it be restored?
    Tagged as a “metaphysical whodunit,” Agnes of God tells the story of a 21-year- old nun, Agnes, played by Anna Gravel-Foss, who is accused of murdering her baby after the asphyxiated newborn is found in a trash can in Agnes’ room. After Agnes insists that the baby is not hers and she was never pregnant, Dr. Livingston, played by Kate O’Neill, is assigned to the case to determine the state of Agnes’s mental health. Dr. Livingston clashes with Mother Superior Miriam Ruth, who is weary of an interrogation process that will “cut (Agnes’s) mind open.”
    Mother Superior believes that Agnes’s is a holy innocent and her beautiful singing voice is evidence that she is gifted and special. As Livingston’s journey into Agnes’s psyche progresses, both women become invested in the outcome, with Mother Superior needing to believe that Agnes belongs to God and Livingston, combating her own objections to the Catholic church, wanting to prevent Agnes from becoming a victim of her faith.
    According to some sources, including Wikipedia.com, the play is based on a real incident at a convent in New York. In the real life incident, however, the nun was older and well educated. It was determined that the nun had been away at an educational conference at the time of the baby’s conception. The trial never revealed who the father was.
    “I was just having a theological conversation,” said Paula Price, entering the dressing room area from the lobby.
    Each weekend, Paula Price, of Cape Elizabeth, puts on the habit and the Rosary beads required for her transformation into the Mother Superior. Onstage, she is authoritative and stern, a woman unwilling to open up the convent or her faith to the outside world. She conveys an air of superiority that fortunately melts away when she steps off stage.
    “I’m really a pussycat,” said Price in an interview following Sunday’s matinee performance. “When I’m assertive my family and friends say there’s Mother Superior,” she said.
    To prepare for the role, Price did some research on Catholicism and learned how to put on the habit. To become even more in touch with her character, Price said she took a break from makeup and shaving her legs because “Mother Superior wouldn’t worry about those things.” Glancing at the dressing room mirror, she said she was looking forward to wearing makeup again. 
     Although, this is not Price’s first performance with the Portland Players, she said Agnes of God is the “most challenging play” she has acted in. She said her role as Mother Superior also marks the first time she has officially felt like an actor. Surprisingly, Price didn’t want to play Mother Superior. She initially auditioned for the role of Dr. Livingston.
    “I wanted to wear the pretty clothes,” she joked about her preference for the psychiatrist’s role. She said she knew playing Mother Superior would be a challenge, but said that she is drawn to roles that allow her to play someone completely opposite from herself. That doesn’t mean, however, that she doesn’t look for some way to relate to her character. Price said she was able to relate to Mother Ruth’s huge capacity to believe in a higher power. She said she believes everyone has those moments when they feel the presence of something bigger than themselves.
    Even if you are not a religious person, it is an emotional experience to see the drama unfold on stage. Dr. Livingston and Mother Ruth are both desperate to save Agnes from different evils and in the process they both become tied to her fate. Gravel-Foss’s portrayal of Agnes as a fragile girl, much younger than her 21 years, also makes it easier for the audience to become invested in her well-being.  Price said she was exhausted after Sunday’s performance. After one scene, she said she couldn’t stop crying backstage.
    Price’s first performance at the South Portland theater was in 1993 when she got a small role in a production of The Odd Couple. In 1997, she performed in a production of Teasers and Tormentors and last year she performed in The Passion of the Dracula and played Penelope Sycamore in You Can’t Take It With You.
    Price said that with each performance she considers that it might be her last one, but by the time auditions come around, she has changed her mind. She said her loyalty to the Portland Players stage is due in part to the way it complements her desire to pursue acting as a passion and not a career. For one thing, she said the theater is just around the corner from her house. Performing at the Lyric Music Theater, also in South Portland, is out of the question she said because she doesn’t sing. She also said she doesn’t have an interest in working as an equity actor. 
    When Agnes of God ends its run next weekend, Price said she would be sad to see the experience end.
    “It’s like losing a friend,” she said. “Every play stays with you for awhile.”