Review: SISTER NATIVITY By Bernardo Santareno at Drayton Arms Theatre 2–6 December 2025
'the cast provides emotional depth even when the script falters' ★★★
Bernardo Santareno’s SISTER NATIVITY, translated by Sebastião Marques Lopes, reaches the Drayton Arms with evident care and commitment from its creative team. Yet the play itself proves a perplexing choice for revival. Once, its interrogation of faith, moral duty, and institutional rigidity may have been bold and provoking. However, in 2025, its impact feels muted, leaving the audience questioning the narrative’s relevance.
On Christmas Eve, in a convent of contemplative nuns, the sickly Mother Superior faces an unwelcome dilemma. She is caught between the cool, unyielding logic of Sister Trinity and the unsettling fervour of Sister Nativity, who claims a personal bond with Christ himself.
Set entirely within a single room, the play attempts to examine the spiritual tensions and communal bonds of cloistered women. Yet the writing, by a male playwright, belies assumptions about convent life that verge on the unintentionally comic; Santareno’s speculative vision of how nuns spend their days - running, giggling, and "playing with Jesus" - undermined the austere atmosphere he sought to evoke.
Fortunately, the cast provides emotional depth even when the script falters. Efè Agwele delivers a grounded portrayal of the Mother Superior, capturing a delicate blend of compassion, authority, and fragility. Jasmine Holly Bullock matches her with steely conviction, while Chrisanthi Livadiotis imbues Sister Angelica with luminous devotion. Emily Millwood, though brief in appearance, brings crucial intensity - her portrayal of religious zeal, bordering on insanity, is deftly executed.
Sebastião Marques Lopes’s direction strives to maintain momentum in a largely static text. Much of the action occurs offstage, leaving extended stretches of circular dialogue. Despite his efforts, pacing lags, and the heavy, repetitive dialogue struggles to sustain dramatic tension. The central thematic conflict - between an ageing Mother Superior who leads with her heart and her iron-willed successor-in-waiting - is articulated but never fully felt.
Production values, however, are strong. Costumes, set, and props are meticulously realised, and the sound design and choral work evoke the quiet, echoing hush of monastic life and lend the production a touch of authenticity.
Coming to Santareno’s work with fresh eyes, one might hope to uncover a neglected gem. Unfortunately, SISTER NATIVITY is not it. The themes - faith, obedience, hierarchy and resistance to change - remain timeless, but their expression here feels diluted, lacking urgency and disconnected from the experience of a contemporary audience. Admirable though it is to champion a lesser-known playwright, this particular play does not feel like a story pressing to be retold.
WRITER Bernardo Santareno (1920–1980) was one of Portugal’s leading playwrights and a trained psychiatrist. His works explore themes of repression, morality, sexuality, and freedom, with acclaimed plays including O Lugre, O Crime da Aldeia Velha, and O Judeu.
Creatives
DIRECTOR & TRANSLATOR | SEBASTIÃO MARQUES LOPES
PRODUCER | CHRISANTHI LIVADIOTIS
Cast
Mother Superior | Efè Agwele
Sister Trinity | Jasmine Holly Bullock
Sister Angelica | Chrisanthi Livadiotis
Sister Nativity | Emily Millwood
