A Smaller Venue, a Funnier ‘Catechism’

Proust had nothing on Maripat Donovan. Her popular solo show, “Late Nite Catechism,” which ran at the Henry Fonda Theatre a few months ago, is back--this time, at a specially constructed new performance space upstairs from the Coronet Theatre.

For anyone ever taught by a nun, the show may well trigger a storm of nostalgic recollection--not to mention gales of laughter. However, non-Catholics too will appreciate Donovan’s improvisational flair.

Donovan, who co-wrote the piece with Vicki Quade, plays Sister, a nun teaching an adult catechism class. (Father Murphy had a scheduling conflict--his poker night.)

Sister hails from the glory days of the Catholic teaching orders, when nuns ruled the packed-to-the-rafters roosts of America’s parochial schools--often teaching 50-plus students without any assistance other than their own single-minded commitment to their “vocation.”

Sweeping into the room with a swish of black robes and a jangle of rosary beads, Sister makes it clear that she is in charge here and will brook no disobedience from her “students” in the audience. Don Rickles in a habit, she fires off questions--and insults--at a rapid-fire clip. She rewards good behavior with hilariously cheesy but authentic plastic religious artifacts. (The crucifix/penknife is a real crowd-pleaser.) But smart alecks, beware.

If Donovan was funny at the mid-size Fonda--and she was, very--she’s doubly funny in this 168-seat house, a former rehearsal hall that has been exactly reconfigured to look like a parochial school classroom. A licensed contractor in her pre-Sister days, Donovan oversaw the transformation--and she works this intimate house like nobody’s business.

A marked contrast to the poison-pen portrayals of nuns in much contemporary theater, Donovan’s lovingly rendered creation is inspired entertainment--the merry representative of a dwindling tribe.

BE THERE

“Late Nite Catechism,” Upstairs at the Coronet, 366 La Cienega Blvd., second floor, (877) 386-6968. Fridays, 8 p.m.; Saturdays, 5 and 8 p.m.; Sundays, 3 p.m. Dec. 26, 3 and 7 p.m. Dark Dec. 24-25. Indefinitely. $35.