Don't be late to 'Catechism'

MOLLY GILMORE; For The Olympian | • Published November 26, 2009

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During her Catholic childhood, Colleen O'Neill thought more than once about becoming a nun.

'Late Nite Catechism 2'

What: The theme of this catechism “class” – for which audience members serve as the students – is “sometimes you feel guilty because you are guilty.”

When: 7:30 p.m. Saturday

Where: The Washington Center for the Performing Arts, 512 Washington St. S.E., Olympia

Tickets: $23.50-$35.50 with discounts for students and seniors

More information: 360-753-8586 or www.washingtoncenter.org

She recently encountered an old friend on Facebook. When the two met, the friend pulled out a 30-year-old picture of O’Neill dressed in a habit for Halloween.

“When I was in sixth grade, I thought about being a nun, too,” O’Neill said, “but it’s just not me.”

Still, for the past nine years, O’Neill of New York City has been playing one on stages across the country.

O’Neill (who uses the stage name Colleen More for her performances as a nun) will bring her sister act to Olympia on Saturday in “Late Nite Catechism 2.”

She knew many a nun in her Catholic girlhood, and when she’s playing Sister, leader of an adult catechism class that includes elements of a game show, she’s inspired by one in particular: Sister Baptiste, her high school Latin teacher.

“She was like a great big old bird,” O’Neill said. “She was very, very thin and very tall. She was brilliant. She never cracked a smile, and yet I knew she really liked me.

“She was one of the good nuns.”

And so is Sister, the lead character of Maripat Donovan’s “Catechism” plays. (“Sister’s Christmas Catechism” stopped in Olympia in 2005, and the original “Late Nite Catechism” was here in 2007.)

“She can be strict, but she can change on a dime,” O’Neill said. “She doesn’t hold grudges.”

But be warned: Sister does pick on the audience in much the same way Jeff Kingsbury’s Mistress of Novices teased in Capital Playhouse’s recent “Nunsense.”

Sister has rules: “Don’t come late. Don’t chew gum. Don’t wear a short skirt. Don’t talk to your neighbor,” Donovan told The Olympian in a 2005 interview.

Those who dare to flout the rules are likely to hear about it, and Sister will also be calling on students to answer questions and help in class.

But the timid need not fear: There’s an art to choosing those who’ll become part of the show.

“Part of the job is being able to read that,” O’Neill said. “You can tell by the body language. You can tell by whether they are looking at their shoes. If I pick up on all the signals that they just want to be an audience member, I leave them alone.

“I don’t want to make the students uncomfortable — except when I’m picking on them.”