“Holy Ghost Bingo: God, Goblins and Games”

[rating=4]Halloween is around the corner. That means costumes, candy and of course ghosts. If you are Catholic, I guess it also means Bingo and once again, Vicki Quade ( of “Late Night Catechism”, “Put The Nuns In Charge” and of course, her most recent show, “Are You Smarter Than your 8th Grade nun?”) has added Bingo to the equation. Not being a Catholic, I have not been into her shows, but as a theater reviewer and a lover of good entertainment values, I decided to take a chance and take in one of her clever shows. “Holy Ghost Bingo: God Goblins and Games” is indeed a hoot!

This all takes place at The Greenhouse Theater Center on Lincoln Avenue. The building has been redone since Victory Gardens moved up the street, yet, there seem to be some remnants of the old performances in the building. During tonight’s show a man wandered in looking for the theater ( this was IN the theater) and then he disappeared, only to return minutes later. Then Nun Vicki took him down the hall to help him find his way. Was he really there? We might never know.

The theater was about 50% of capacity, which is probably what most of the smaller venues are feeling post-Covid, but the group was into what they were doing there. The evening is mainly playing different games of Bingo. Nun Vicki asked for a volunteer to do the bingo master and shuffle the bingo cards. When the group of audience members declined, I jumped at the opportunity. After all, I was there to observe and what better vantage point than the stage. We played several games with interludes of great story telling in between and some unusual gifts for winners.

She spoke of the ouiji board and its meaning to Catholics. The mysteries of belief and some of the traditions of Halloween. There was a lot of audience participation ( after I did my thing, they seemed to loosen up) and the fun really began. We learned about costumes and she brought 6 of the audience members onstage, dressed them in costumes garnering lots of laughs during this segment and then we voted for the best- prizes, as silly as they were, were grabbed by the winners. I guess it is not what you win, but the winning itself that we love!

My co-host Frank has seen many more of her productions and based on the program, six other ladies also do some of her shows allowing them to do other things as well. The show is never the same because she plays off the audience. The play is set for two acts with an intermission ( allowing the audience to do another drink before the bar closes) but things were rolling along so well, we opted to go straight through ( Eda wanted another drink, but gave in) so all together the show was about 100- 110 minutes. The last segment was about ghost stores that some of us had experienced, after hearing a story about Sister Resurrection. An interesting evening indeed.

“Holy Ghost Bingo: God, Goblins and Games” will continue at The Greenhouse Theater Center  located at 2257 N. Lincoln Avenue thru the end of the month with performances on

Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m.

for tickets call 773-404-7336

www.greenhousetheatercenter..org/

To learn more about other “Nuns for Fun shows, visit www.nuns4fun.com

To see what others are saying, visit www.theatreinchicago.com, go to Review Round-Up and click at “”Holy Ghost Bingo: God, Goblins and Games”.