"Late Nite Catechism," at the Olney Theatre Center for the Arts through Nov. 11, takes a hilarious and nostalgic look parochial school education 40-some years ago, and incorporates many of the changes in the Church since then, but it is never unkind or cynical about either the old or the new ways.

It was written in 1993 by Maripat Donovan and Vicki Quade and has toured the country with great success ever since.  A one-woman show, it features a formidable but lively Sister against the background of an all-too-familiar grade school classroom.  Sister doesn't spend much time sitting at her desk, though - there is a basic structure to the show but it is mainly improvisational, with a great deal of audience participation.

This means that the play varies considerably from night to night, and it also means that the actress playing Sister must be on her toes all the time gauging the audience, no easy task.  Fortunately, the Olney production has Nonie Newton-Breen playing Sister; Newton-Breen sharpened her comedy and improvisational skills at Chicago's famous Second City Theatre, and she doesn't miss a trick.  In addition to throwing out general "quiz" questions, she fairly rapidly decides on several members of the audience who will be good foils for her humor (these people are definitely not "plants"), and she's off.

Much of "Late Nite Catechism" consists of ascertaining how many Catholics remember what they were taught years ago.  (At one point, writing a question on the chalkboard, she says "When I turn around, I want to see every hand up."  Alas, no hands appear.)

On opening night, Newton-Breen dealt with a wide variety of Catholic subjects, such as the distinction between the Immaculate Conception and the Virgin Birth, limbo, meatless Fridays, Purgatory, Easter Duty and the saints.  She had a lot of fun with the latter subject, particularly saints who had had a change of status, such as St. Christopher and St. Jude (the latter "a loser," she said dismissively.

Discipline and decorum also came into the mixture, though Sister didn't actually rap anyone over the knuckles with a ruler.  She reminded people to sit up straight, confiscated chewing gum, distributed tissues so that a couple of young ladies in revealing dresses could cover themselves a bit, and handed out small religious trinkets as rewards for right answers.  Newton-Breen is also an expert at "The Look," with which Sisters could control a class of 40-plus students without saying a word.

"Late Nite Catechism," (a spelling of which Sister would certainly not approve), will obviously appeal mainly to Catholics, but non-Catholics should get a kick out of it too, and judging from the gales of laughter on opening night, it's bound to have a successful run.

At the end of the show, Newton-Breen steps out of character and talks seriously to the audience about the plight of the many elderly and sick retired sisters around the country, who no longer have hundreds of younger sisters in their orders to help them, and who are in dire financial straits.  She then goes out to the foyer with a collection basket, which on opening night was being generously filled.  There could hardly be a worthier cause.

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