A Host of Trouble
A HOST OF TROUBLE is set in 1955 in a working class neighborhood in Chicago. Being a good Catholic girl has brought Harriet Weber nothing but trouble. Her sisters mock her, classmates call her a phony and worst of all, her mother has become convinced that Harriet has a religious vocation. Her mother's dream turns into Harriet's nightmare, played out as a flock of unstoppable nuns chasing her through the woods. As she prepares for her First Communion, Harriet is caught between wanting to please her mother and longing to be like other girls. Her friends are getting fancy First Communion dresses but a candidate for the convent can wear the family hand-me-down. She tries to make a perfect first confession but a painstaking list of sins only provokes a loud scolding from the priest. During a First Communion practice drill Sister Cletus reprimands Harriet for making suggestive movements with her tongue. Not quite understanding the accusation, Harriet assures Sister Cletus that she'd never, 'French Jesus.' This innocent remark jeopardizes her family's good standing in the parish. In a school conference an indignant Sister Cletus is forced to explain French kissing to Harriet's mortified mother. Unable to be perfect, miserable at the thought of a bleak future in the convent, Harriet lashes out at a pre-Communion photo shoot. Mayhem ensues and miraculously, Harriet's mother begins to appreciate her for who she is, not what she might become.
