Agnes of God

Directed by Becka Frost

Tuesday, December 9, 2014
Directing I
Ken Risch
Plot Summary
A court psychiatrist attempts to unravel the case of a dead baby found in the wastebasket of a
young nun who has no memory of the incident. The psychiatrist faces opposition against the convents
Mother Superior. All three women explore questions of science and religion, truth and reason and the
need to prove something right in the hopes that it will be.
Playwright Summary
John Pielmeier started out as an actor but had been writing for fun for several years. He got a
job in 1977 at the Eugene ONeill Playwrights Conference. He loved it so much that he was determined
to write a play for the ONeill. During 78 he started writing Agnes which came from a real event that
took place the year before. In Brighton, New York, a 37 year old nun killed her newborn baby and threw
it in the wastebasket. She was later tried in court and found innocent of all charges by reason of
insanity. In 79, Agnes was accepted for the ONeill Conference. In March 1982, Amanda Plummer won
a Tony for her performance as Agnes, thus assuring the future of the play.
Source: http://johnpielmeier.com/theater/plays/agnes-of-god/
Contacts:
Sydnee Fullmer
Kinsey McCabe

Mother Superior
Doctor Livingston

Phone #
Sydnee.fullmer@aggiemail.usu.edu
760-707-6064 kmmccabe@aggiemail.usu.edu

Rehearsal Schedule:
1. Monday, December 1 @ 12pm in the Green Room. Duration 25 minutes.
2. Friday, December 5 @ 1130am in the Black Box. Duration 35 minutes.
3. Monday, December 8 @ 9pm in the Black Box. Duration 35 minutes.
Props:
1. One table
2. Two chairs
First Rehearsal: Table work
Goals:
a. Provide background information/read through
b. Discuss motivations and objectives
c. Discuss a resolution regarding Agnes.
d. Beats/sections
Reflection:
a. I discussed with my actors that this story is based off of an actual event. We talked about what
they like about the play; how it asks questions about science and religion thats been around
since the beginning of time. We then read through. The first time was calmer than what I had
pictured in my mind, but I think as we go on, we can build tension.

b. We talked about the Mothers motivation. In her conscious, she knows how Agnes got
pregnant. By the end of the scene when she bursts out Then shes a goddamn liar! thats the
breaking point for the Mother. Her conscious has won out.
The Doctor was also interesting to discuss. As the play opens, she is there purely for
legal reasons. However, as the play progresses and eventually gets to our scene, she is involved
mostly because of personal reasons. The other thing thats hard for the Doctor is that she has
this I dont believe in God; scientific reasoning for everything mentality. But because she is so
scientific, she is battling her inner Catholic; the small, deep place inside of her that knows that
somewhere there is a God.
I shared some of my ideas regarding the space and physicality of the play. This scene
feels very much like a boxing scene; its do or die for these characters. So I think placing it in
arena format will help with that the cornering and pinning down the opponent. I also
shared my thoughts on wanting to space the mother and doctor far away from each other, but
as the scene goes on and the stakes rise and the intensity builds, to have them get closer to each
other; until the end when the mother bursts out about god damned liar. Thus putting an end
to this match.
c. We discussed that Agnes impregnation was by man; not God. Sydnee brought up a really good
point that when Agnes has all of those unseen friends she reacts with fear. If it was done by
God, there wouldnt be any fear. Thus leading us to believe, that because she was molested as a
child and the fear of these unseen people, is the fear for the one who raped/seduced her.
d. Near the end of the rehearsal, we talked about the scene in terms of beats. What worked
easiest for me was to chunk up the scene into three sections, my actors did likewise and then
we did a read through one more time.
Second Rehearsal: Blocking
Goals:
a. Let actors go through organically.
b. Questions! At what point does the Mother know shes lost? What does dropping the Mothers
pitch do to the dynamic? How does the Doctor react to that? What does letting the Doctor yell
and get angry do? How does the Mother react?
Side Note: At some point, I want to have my actors just circle each other as the read through the scene.
I want them to size the other up, think of how theyre going to defeat them. What will they say to
get them right where it hurts? How will they do that? What will they do to keep the other from
winning? How far will they go?
c. Solidify blocking.
Side Note: This play is all about the theory of opposites. The need to prove something is true in the
hopes that it will be. How far will they go to prove that they are right? How important is Agnes? Or
is she just a tool/a pawn for these women to figure out what they believe in? Why, if the Mother
knows the truth, does she try so hard to conceal it? How invested is the Mother is being a nun? She
had a family before, why is she a nun now? Is it just a role she plays? Why? What does believing
that a man impregnated Agnes do to the Mother and what/how she believes. What does it do for
the Doctor? Even though the Doctor is pushing for a logical and scientific explanation, is there a part
of her that wants it to be of God? What will that do for her and what she believes?
Reflection:
This rehearsal was primarily blocking. I asked my actors to move organically and as they felt the
need. For the duration of the scene, the Doctor thinks that she has won, but the Mother has the final
blow on Then shes a god damn liar.

The final section built really well. The beat of blood and the dirty sheets.and the babyno
read really well.
Blocking Notes: Dr. starts standing next to the table. She moves to front on Did Agnes ever
saycarrying the child? She moves to downstage middle to her right on Until when? Dont waste
those tears on me, Mother, until when? Mother stands up on The scandal.
Third Rehearsal: Polishing
Goals:
a. Remembering our blocking rehearsal and coming into this final one, I felt like something wasnt
right. I wasnt sure what, but whatever it was, I wanted it addressed and worked out.
Reflection:
This rehearsal was very productive. Ive tried very hard to use every single minute effectively,
because I dont want my actors to feel like theyre wasting their time.
I started the rehearsal saying that I felt like something was missing from this scene. I wasnt
sure what or why, but there was something there. We ran through it once my actors agreed in telling
me that they felt stuck DR. I asked them, for the sake of tension and raising the stakes, if they would
circle around each other (and the set) for the last section and a half. I noticed that there were only a
few times that the Doctor took her eyes off of the Mother, however, they moved at the same pace. I
asked them to try it again, this time picking up the pace as the tension increased and stakes rose. The
second time felt much better. It helped with the tension and dynamic that I felt was missing; it also felt
more like a prey-predator situation.
We then worked on blocking and utilizing the space more. Sydnee was very good at that and
had some really good ideas to contribute that I hadnt thought about. In the final section, we worked on
counter crossing, which seemed to help a lot more with the flow and build, and made it feel more like a
showdown.
In the very beginning of the blocking process, I asked my actors to start organically and then I
tried to build off of that. I never wanted them to feel like I wasnt doing anything and/or was making
them do all the work. So when something I suggested, worked and they liked it, I felt well, useful.
Particularly right after the Mother says I put it there for the blood and dirty sheets I asked Kinsey to
take a few steps during that pause towards the Mother, making her (the mother) feel more cornered
and then she would stop and say and the baby. I really loved this because I could tell what the Doctor
was thinking as she stepped forward; she knew exactly what she was going to say to hit the mother
where it hurts the most, and I loved that.
Many of the questions that I asked in the side note of rehearsal two werent directly discussed. I
sent an email to my actors and asked a few of them there, hoping that as they memorized and read the
script that they would be thinking about those things.
Ive had some other questions myself in regards to directing. I dont know how much to nitpick.
I dont want to sound bossy and whiny, yet I have this little, baby picture in my head that wants to be on
stage. On the other hand, I really have trusted these two actors and value their opinions and ideas very
highly. That was one of the great things about working with Sydnee and Kinsey; they work hard and get
the job done. We didnt have to spend hours on this scene because they understand me and get where
my ideas are coming from. They respected that and were respectful to me, even though Im younger
than them in both years and experience.
We had some other discussions about the very end. This whole scene, the doctor has the
power; shes the ones asking the questions. But who wins the scene, is a completely different matter.
The Doctor is in control of the scene, but the mother lets her win when she gets angry and loses her
control. At the final stand off after god damned liar, we played with ending the scene with them
staring each other down, or having the Doctor walk away. We decided that if the Doctor walked away,

that would make her weak, and the mother would then win. It would change the dynamic completely.
So we decided to leave it ending as a show down. That way, it wouldnt give away the big reveal at
the end; the Doctors reaction would be full and honest.