Preview of Doubt: a Parable
What do you do when you're not sure?
Andrew Exner
Issue date: 4/8/10 Section: Entertainment
This is the question posed on posters all over campus for the upcoming theatre production of John Patrick Shanley's Doubt: A Parable. Professor Valerie Smith is the director of the award-winning play that first premiered in 2004 and was adapted into a film starring Meryl Streep and Philip Seymour Hoffman in 2008. The play itself takes place in a 1964 parochial school in the Bronx, in one of the tensest cultural, political, and religious climates in our nation's history.
On the theatre hall billboard, there is a large display of old photographs, quotes, and clippings that give us an idea of "The World of Doubt." The development of Vatican II, Martin Luther King Jr. and the Civil Rights movement, President John F. Kennedy (assassinated in 1963), and the Beatles litter the board amid pictures of Vietnam and countercultural hippies. Doubt: A Parable brings many of these issues together.
The play concerns the case of Donald Muller, the first African American student at St. Nicholas, who is also an altar boy. Although Donald never appears on stage, he is pivotal to the plot. Sister Aloysius (played by Anita Troppman, '11), the strict head nun and principal of the school, begins to suspect that popular priest and teacher Father Flynn (played by Josh Luther, '11) is molesting Donald. The young and naive Sister James (played by Molly Mastorovich, '12) wants to defend Flynn, and insists that Aloysius has no evidence to support her dogmatic claims. Aloysius claims that she does not need proof because she has her convictions and her experience. "I know people," she says.
Donald's mother, Mrs. Muller (played by Adrienne Knight, '11), recognizes that Donald is "different," and just wants to make sure that he is not being harassed by the other schoolchildren so that he can finish and be accepted at a good high school. She recognizes that Father Flynn has been protecting Donald, but wants to remain ignorant beyond that.
Each of the characters is strong, and the views that they represent are diverse. Those who are familiar with the 2008 film may recall that Sister Aloysius is demonized. The play, however, is much more balanced in its approach. No single viewpoint triumphs over the others, but they are all presented with their merits and pockmarks as the characters debate with each other. "This is definitely a debate play," says Smith,"where with every scene we have a perspective that's being put forward that's pretty convincing and compelling."
The play is only about 90 minutes long and has no intermission. The original Broadway actors said that the play had two acts: the first in the theatre and the second on the ride home when you talked about it. To encourage these "Second-Act Conversations," as the production team has taken to calling them; there will be buttons handed out that indicate the wearer wants to discuss the play. There will also be talk-back sessions after both Sunday matinees.
The cast and production team visited with the Sisters of Charity in the Bronx to get an idea of what the schools were like back in 1964. "It was a really great experience to connect with the Sisters of Charity and their work and really get to know their mission," says Mastorovich.
"It was also helpful because we asked them what they do day to day, even concerning their teaching in the schools," says Troppman.
The actors all agreed that the visit had helped them understand their characters more, especially with regards to the issues of the time. "Each character's commitment to the issue is a determining factor in their life," says Luther, who attended a mass in Mechanicsburg to see a priest in action.
Although the play is, on the surface, about the Church's sex scandals, these were not what prompted Shanley to write it. He wrote the play in the weeks leading up to our 2003 invasion of Iraq when we were convinced that there were weapons of mass destruction being kept a secret there. Ultimately, the play is about polarized groups not being able to hear one another's points of view and a break-down in the elements of communication. Audience members may not leave the play with any answers, but they will certainly be challenged by its content. They may even begin to doubt their own convictions.
For Shanley, this doubt is crucial in our development. In the preface to the play, he says, "When a man feels unsteady, when he falters, when hard-won knowledge evaporates before his eyes, he's on the verge of growth… Life happens when the tectonic power of your speechless soul breaks through the dead habits of your mind. Doubt is nothing less than an opportunity to reenter the Present."
As Christians, we are called to have faith. Is doubt a part of this faith, or should we purge all doubts from our minds and hold to our convictions? The play assures us that the answer to this question is not an easy one, as Sister Aloysius affirms: "Every easy choice today will have its consequence tomorrow."
Messiah College's production of Doubt: A Parable will be held on April 15, 16, 17, 22, 23, and 24 at 8 P.M. and April 18 & 25 at 3 P.M. in Miller Auditorium. Tickets will be five dollars for students/seniors and ten dollars for adults.
On the theatre hall billboard, there is a large display of old photographs, quotes, and clippings that give us an idea of "The World of Doubt." The development of Vatican II, Martin Luther King Jr. and the Civil Rights movement, President John F. Kennedy (assassinated in 1963), and the Beatles litter the board amid pictures of Vietnam and countercultural hippies. Doubt: A Parable brings many of these issues together.
The play concerns the case of Donald Muller, the first African American student at St. Nicholas, who is also an altar boy. Although Donald never appears on stage, he is pivotal to the plot. Sister Aloysius (played by Anita Troppman, '11), the strict head nun and principal of the school, begins to suspect that popular priest and teacher Father Flynn (played by Josh Luther, '11) is molesting Donald. The young and naive Sister James (played by Molly Mastorovich, '12) wants to defend Flynn, and insists that Aloysius has no evidence to support her dogmatic claims. Aloysius claims that she does not need proof because she has her convictions and her experience. "I know people," she says.
Donald's mother, Mrs. Muller (played by Adrienne Knight, '11), recognizes that Donald is "different," and just wants to make sure that he is not being harassed by the other schoolchildren so that he can finish and be accepted at a good high school. She recognizes that Father Flynn has been protecting Donald, but wants to remain ignorant beyond that.
Each of the characters is strong, and the views that they represent are diverse. Those who are familiar with the 2008 film may recall that Sister Aloysius is demonized. The play, however, is much more balanced in its approach. No single viewpoint triumphs over the others, but they are all presented with their merits and pockmarks as the characters debate with each other. "This is definitely a debate play," says Smith,"where with every scene we have a perspective that's being put forward that's pretty convincing and compelling."
The play is only about 90 minutes long and has no intermission. The original Broadway actors said that the play had two acts: the first in the theatre and the second on the ride home when you talked about it. To encourage these "Second-Act Conversations," as the production team has taken to calling them; there will be buttons handed out that indicate the wearer wants to discuss the play. There will also be talk-back sessions after both Sunday matinees.
The cast and production team visited with the Sisters of Charity in the Bronx to get an idea of what the schools were like back in 1964. "It was a really great experience to connect with the Sisters of Charity and their work and really get to know their mission," says Mastorovich.
"It was also helpful because we asked them what they do day to day, even concerning their teaching in the schools," says Troppman.
The actors all agreed that the visit had helped them understand their characters more, especially with regards to the issues of the time. "Each character's commitment to the issue is a determining factor in their life," says Luther, who attended a mass in Mechanicsburg to see a priest in action.
Although the play is, on the surface, about the Church's sex scandals, these were not what prompted Shanley to write it. He wrote the play in the weeks leading up to our 2003 invasion of Iraq when we were convinced that there were weapons of mass destruction being kept a secret there. Ultimately, the play is about polarized groups not being able to hear one another's points of view and a break-down in the elements of communication. Audience members may not leave the play with any answers, but they will certainly be challenged by its content. They may even begin to doubt their own convictions.
For Shanley, this doubt is crucial in our development. In the preface to the play, he says, "When a man feels unsteady, when he falters, when hard-won knowledge evaporates before his eyes, he's on the verge of growth… Life happens when the tectonic power of your speechless soul breaks through the dead habits of your mind. Doubt is nothing less than an opportunity to reenter the Present."
As Christians, we are called to have faith. Is doubt a part of this faith, or should we purge all doubts from our minds and hold to our convictions? The play assures us that the answer to this question is not an easy one, as Sister Aloysius affirms: "Every easy choice today will have its consequence tomorrow."
Messiah College's production of Doubt: A Parable will be held on April 15, 16, 17, 22, 23, and 24 at 8 P.M. and April 18 & 25 at 3 P.M. in Miller Auditorium. Tickets will be five dollars for students/seniors and ten dollars for adults.
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