It’s OK to laugh in catechism class.

Well, it’s perhaps more correct to say that it’s all right to laugh in one particular catechism class that will soon take place in Lawrence.

That would be “Late Nite Catechism,” an April 25 fund-raiser for Lawrence Catholic Community Services, 320 Maine, that will be performed at Free State High School.

The event is a piece of interactive, comedic theater in which a nun, identified only as Sister, teaches a catechism class in which the audience itself plays the role of her students.

The show is intended to take audience members back — sometimes nostalgically, sometimes fearfully — to the children they once were. But the humor is designed to translate equally well to those who aren’t Catholic and didn’t experience this rite of passage.

“Laughter is good for the spirit. It keeps us going when everything looks bleak. This fund-raiser is an opportunity to support a community agency, and it’s a wonderful time of fellowship,” said Judy Parker, director of Lawrence Catholic Community Services.

“Laughing with your friends is one of the best bonding experiences you can have. And Catholics can laugh at themselves — it’s OK.”

The show, which has been performed for audiences around the world, is designed to provide pure enjoyment.

But the purpose of its upcoming performance at Free State is serious: to raise money for Lawrence Catholic Community Services, a private, nonprofit counseling service.

The organization serves people from Lawrence, Douglas County and the surrounding region.

The money raised by “Late Nite Catechism” will be an important source of financial support for the organization, according to Parker.

“One interesting thing about grants is that many of them are designed only for the start-up of programs, so we cannot reapply for the same grant to continue a program that we have already started. The fund-raiser allows us to continue programs or expand them,” she said.

The goal is to raise $8,000 to $10,000 for the organization, after the expenses of paying for the show are paid.

“I think that is a high goal, but it’s very possible,” Parker said.

The show comes to Lawrence highly recommended by critics around the United States. It was nominated for an Outer Critics Circle Award in New York and recently won the L.A. Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Lead Performance for Maripat Donovan (as Sister). It is currently playing in eight American cities, including Chicago, where it has been performed to full “classes” since it opened in 1993.

“Late Nite Catechism” also played in the summer and fall of 2003 at Union Station in Kansas City, Mo.

“A number of our board members saw it when it was in Kansas City, and they fell in love with it. Several of their friends who are not Catholic were just as entertained,” Parker said.

“The humor is not so Catholic that if you’re not Catholic you won’t understand.”