Those with fretful memories of nuns, ruler whacks and the study of all things saints and sinners will no doubt revel in “Late Nite Catechism,” the latest in the PNC Bank Broadway in Louisville series. Presented as an audience-participation production at the Clifton Center, where the audience is essentially the classroom and the sometimes-domineering Sister (played astutely by Kathleen Stefano) spouts on topics from the Immaculate Conception to the sins of Adam and Eve, the play is an entertaining and somewhat nerve-wracking journey that most Catholics probably remember a little too well.
During Monday evening’s opening-night production, the Sister shouted at audience members to sit up straight, put both feet on the floor and remove their arms from loved ones. “There needs to be plenty of room for the Holy Spirit to get through,” she snapped as she collected a dollar from the second arm-over-wife offender. Similar to grade-school Catholic classrooms, if you were brave enough to answer a question, you had to rephrase it, of course, with “Yes, Sister, the answer is ...” The brave were often rewarded with small trinkets, including a glow-in-the-dark rosary; a Catholic credit card that stated: “In case of an emergency, call a priest”; and a Soldier of Christ keychain, which Mayor Jerry Abramson, who was in attendance, was lucky enough to receive for being Classroom Monitor during intermission. Of course, the Sister reminded the audience when more hands went up after she presented the prize: “A true Soldier of Christ would have volunteered without the knowledge of reward.”
“Late Nite Catechism” blends just enough humor and wit with factual religious study and tradition. For example, according to the Sister, did you know Jesus was Irish? She joked: “He lived at home till he was 30, went out drinking with his 12 buddies every night and his mom thought he walked on water.” Touche.
