Maripat Donovan, one of the original creators and the original star of Late Nite Catechism, will teach San Francisco's errant and faithful Catholics alike the true meaning of religion, beginning June 13 at the Union Square Playhouse. The run is open-ended.

Donovan plays a cheery and domineering Sister who heads an adult catechism class made up of "students" from the audience. During the course of the one-woman show, she hands out glow-in-the-dark rosaries and saint cards to those who answer questions correctly or becomes an authoritative drill sergeant when things don't go exactly her way.

Late Nite Catechism first premiered in 1992 at Chicago's Live Bait Theatre before going on to successful (and still continuing) runs in New York, Los Angles, Seattle, Philadelphia and New Orleans. Donovan wrote the comedy with Vicki Quade.

Donovan knows of what she writes and performs. Raised in a strict Irish Catholic household, she attended Catholic grammar and high school before going on to Loyola University. She quit theatre to form her own construction company in 1979, then returned six years later to win Jeff Citations for her work in Portrait of a Shiksa and The Good Times Are Killing Me.

Tickets are $39. The Union Square Playhouse is located at 340 Mason Street. For reservations, call (877) FUNNY-NUN. — By Christine Ehren