Catholic school girls in pleated skirts with knee-high socks and rulers sounds like a wild themed party or a sultry video from pop tart Britney Spears. Except that this time the rulers are carried by authoritative nuns and the punishments doled out are painful and not the least bit sexy.

“Catholic School Girls” is a satire about four adolescent school girls growing up in New York in the 1960s, attending Catholic school where they discover themselves and learn to question conflicting aspects of their faith.

According to director Chris Jones, senior in Communications, the play consists of only four women who double up their roles and act as both the school girls and the nuns. The play could have been cast with eight members, but Jones would prefer to have just the four.

“I think it is really important to have only four cast members,” Jones said. “The characterization of the girls comes full circle with the characterization of the nuns.”

The stars of the play include Mary Brennan, senior in LAS, Abbey Richeson, freshman in AHS, Teresa Rende, senior in LAS and Becky Bloom, senior in LAS.

Jones, along with the play’s producer, Meghan Mahaney, sophomore in LAS, said they believe that the unique characters are what really makes the show what it is.

Brennan plays Colleen, a little vixen that tries to suck up to the nuns, turn her friends against one another and has ambitions of being the most popular girl in school, according to Mahaney.

Richeson plays Maria Theresa, the loveable boy-crazy ditz, and Bloom is the awkward and smart Wanda.

Rende plays Elizabeth who is not exactly the main character of the play but has the events of the play framed through her eyes.

Each of the girls launches into monologues throughout the play to reflect upon their own experiences with religion and what it is like growing up in the 60s, Jones said. He feels that everyone in the audience will be able to relate to something in this play.

“I want the audience members who were alive during the 60s to go back in time and relive some of those memories,” Jones said. “And I want people that haven’t lived in the 60s to get an understanding of what was going on.”

The play, presented by the Penny Dreadful Players, makes references to many pop culture phenomenons that took place during the decade, such as The Beatles, Diana Ross and the Supremes and go-go boots. The play also touches on important political events of the decade, such as the assassination of President Kennedy and the need for fall-out shelters during the Cold War.

According to Mahaney and Jones, the most important thing about the play is the way it explores what religion means to the individual.

“The point of the play is that you can question your own beliefs,” Jones said, which is what the play accomplishes through the use of satire.

In keeping with the light, comedic tone of the play, the cast joked with one another throughout a rehearsal. Even the only Jewish member of the cast, Bloom, finds herself amused by the content of the play.

“I find I can relate easily because both Catholics and Jews have guilt,” quipped Bloom.

The play will be performed Thursday, March 1 and Saturday, March 3 at 8:00 p.m. in Gregory Hall Theatre. Tickets are $5 at the door.