Monday, March 12, 2012

Doubt


I will be honest, when it came to writing this blog entry, I stared at the screen for a little while.

For me, it is easy to write about musicals that feature beloved songs or romantic plays where everything is rosy and right with the world.

But, when it came to writing about John Patrick Shanley’s play “Doubt” coming to the State Theatre Center for the Arts on March 24,  I approached with some trepidation.

A lot of people know the story of “Doubt” thanks to the 2008 film adaptation featuring Meryl Streep, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Amy Adams.

The story, set in the Bronx in a Catholic church in 1964, focuses on the relationship between Father Brendan Flynn and a young altar boy named Donald Muller and the suspicious relationship cast by Sister Aloysius.

When approached by Sister Aloysius who questioned the relationship between the priest and the boy, Father Flynn said he was confronting Muller about stealing altar wine.

Sister Aloysisus does not believe Father Flynn and feels that he was forging a more inappropriate relationship with the boy.

The play is not funny or lighthearted. In fact, it is the type of play that forces the audience to sit and judge whether or not they think Father Flynn did something wrong, like Sister Aloysisus believes or is an innocent reprimand as Father Flynn adamantly proclaims.

In a world where many turn to entertainment to forget their troubles, this play will engage the audience  so as they can draw their own conclusion to the dilemma presented  in “Doubt.”  It will provide a connection to the relevance of this issue in the world today and encourage a dialogue.

Perhaps this is why it won a 2005 Pulitzer Prize for Drama.

As Father Flynn says, “Doubt can be a bond as powerful and sustaining as certainty.” Do you agree? I guess you will just have to see the play, and then you won’t have any doubt.

To order tickets, call the box office at 724-439-1360 or toll free 800-397-2554.