Late Nite Catechism 3 at Murray Studio Theater Ruth Eckerd Hall Nov 24 – 28
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Late Nite Catechism 3 appearing at Murray Studio Theater Ruth Eckerd Hall 1111 North McMullen Booth Road Clearwater, Florida November 24th through November 28th
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Charging down the aisle like a walrus in a penguin get-up, Sister admonishes the audience to “settle down” as she takes her place at the helm of a makeshift elementary-school classroom. With her blue-collar bark and unstoppable rolling-boulder physique, I could feel myself becoming instantly tipsy from her hectoring hilarity.
The subject of Sister’s lesson is marriage, a sacrament she handily pairs with the blessing of the sick (formerly known as last rites). The thinking here is that marriage vows span earthly life. Death essentially annuls them, which may be an act of charity when you consider an alternative in which not even murder could sunder you from your other half. So apparently Catholics get married, have kids, become grandparents, retire and then drop dead — blessedly single again.
Sister’s pedagogical mode is Socratic, meaning she blindsides members of the audience with questions, most of them bearing on the nature of their intimate relationships. There’s much levity in watching mature, well-dressed Orange County theatergoers be reduced to stammering third-graders under her reprimanding scrutiny. Unfortunately the script, which Donovan wrote with Marc Silvia, the show’s director, is really nothing more than a wing and a prayer for Sister to glide on. Donovan is pretty swift in the ad-lib department, but an hour is a lot of time for this kind of interactive lollygagging.
The second act centers on “The Compatibility Game,” which Sister describes as a cross between “Match Game” and “The Newlywed Game.” Basically, she yanks two couples from the audience, asks them questions about their preferences, and the team with the most right answers wins. This sort of participatory hokeypokey might play well at fundraisers (for which Donovan, clearly entrepreneurial, pitched her services at the end of the evening), but as theater it left the impression of a warm-up for an act that never materialized.
Source: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com
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