REVIEW: The how-to guide to ‘Comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable'
Surely as a St. Kate’s student, you will remember learning about the grit of the Sisters of Saint Joseph in that first Reflective Woman class. However, the McDonald sisters, whose story is told in the History Theatre’s debut ‘Sisters of Peace’ play, make this story visceral and real for us. They spark the fire under us to take action against the violence we see our country carrying out today. A story steeped in the history of Minnesota and activism in the Twin Cities, ‘Sisters of Peace’ is an enriching play that and urges you to take your voice and use it for change.
The play follows the evolution of four women’s social and political consciousnesses, and the formative events that led them to be unashamed fighters for peace. The McDonald sisters find their calling right here in St. Paul, as we see each one joining the Sisters of Saint Joseph and leaving behind the comfort of their small town lives.
As the play goes on, it feels like we are seeing a mirror image of the social justice struggles we fight for today against war and exploitation of our most vulnerable fellow people. Given that the play runs through almost eight decades of the Mcdonald’s sisters lives, it feels rushed at times, and surely many stories have been left out. However, the example these sisters set of devotion to peace, action and helping those who truly need it is relevant to us more than ever. As a younger viewer, it was meaningful to reflect upon the events that need to take place in order to start to question the world and its injustices. For many of us, that consciousness is deepened while we’re in college, and as we move forward in our lives with the knowledge we hold, we have the choice to act or not act when we are faced with injustice. For the McDonald sisters, the answer is clear that when we have the choice to stand up, we must do it.
The sisters are faced with a barrage of judgments for their activist work through the years, namely when trying to change the exclusionary standards of the Catholic church. They are asked why they don’t just leave the church if they dislike it so much. One sister strongly retorts: “What if we love it enough to change it?”. Indeed, whether it be the Catholic church, the United States, or indignant conservative family members, we are taught by the actions of these women that we must hold faith and love to sustain the effort for change.
The fight for peace continues through the decades, and we see history repeat itself again and again in the causes the sisters choose to support. They go on to become more involved in anti-war efforts and participate in civil disobedience actions by traveling to Georgia to protest at the School of Americas and sitting in at the Honeywell Plant in Hopkins where fragmentation bombs used in the Vietnam War were manufactured.
This story, inevitably tied to the the Sisters of Saint Joseph of Carondelet as well as Saint Catherine University, will make you proud to belong to this legacy of social justice. The McDonald sisters exemplify the best of this legacy and show us how to continue it into the future.
‘Sisters of Peace’ will run through April 14th. Tickets are available at The History Theatre’s website: https://www.historytheatre.com/2018-2019/sisters-peace and by calling 651-292-4323.
A special student price of $15 is also available.
