Sisters

Susan Patrick is a librarian at the Ryerson Polytechnical Institute.

Why would a nun burn down the school at which she had dedicated years of
her life to teaching? This is the starting point for Sisters, a
psychological drama and social critique that was first performed at the
Ship’s Company Theatre in Parrsboro, Nova Scotia, in 1989. The play
depicts the harrowing story of the inhabitants of a convent-run Native
residential school during the 1960s, where the nuns tried to eradicate
the Native social system and culture and inculcate Western Christian
values with a heavy dose of humiliating punishment. The play moves along
quickly, slipping back and forth in time as Sister Mary reflects back on
her life—her decision to enter the convent, her relationships with her
fellow sisters, the Native children and the school that ultimately
destroys not only the lives of the children, but those of the nuns as
well, and is, in turn, destroyed by Sister Mary.