January 2016 – Berwyn, PA. A great play has many characteristics. It begins with applause from appreciative audiences, then moves on to receive awards from the theater community. Such outstanding plays are soon being performed nationwide and the ultimate moment is when a great play is adapted for film. DOUBT, A PARABLE is one such play, and it opens at Footlighters Theater in Berwyn on February 5th.
DOUBT was written in 2004 by New York’s John Patrick Shanley and quickly won both the Pulitzer Prize for Drama and the Tony Award for Best Play in 2005. Just three years later, it became an Academy Award-nominated film, whose captivating script attracted an all-star cast of Meryl Streep, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Amy Adams and Viola Davis. And with good reason.
DOUBT is set in the Bronx in 1964 at St. Nicholas Catholic School (a time of great change for both the nation and the Catholic church). The play opens with a sermon by Father Flynn on the nature of doubt, thus setting the stage for this universal experience. “When you are lost,” Father Flynn preaches, “you are not alone.” Thus begins ninety minutes of lost souls, of moral dilemmas, where no answer, no solution seems morally correct. As the story plays out, doubt envelops the cast like incense in a high mass. Who is right? Who is wrong? Who is telling the truth? Can there be ultimate judgment? As the characters struggle with both the changes in the church brought by Vatican II and the political and emotional changes taking place in their local neighborhoods and nation, they find themselves at odds with each other and the outside world. What is “correct” and “true” is no longer obvious. What is the proper course of action? How does one determine right from wrong? The characters and the audience feel the pangs of doubt together; as those on stage wrestle to uncover the truth, the audience shares the same experience. Theatergoers rarely leave this production without engaging in further lively debate on their way home. DOUBT is both timely and timeless.
Join the outstanding cast of Footlighters’ production of DOUBT for three weekends during the month of February. DOUBT opens on Friday, February 5th. Friday and Saturday night shows (plus Thursday, February 18) begin at 8:00pm. Sunday matinees go up at 2:00pm. Tickets online or at the door are $16.00 per person. (Discounts are available for youth.) To avoid disappointment, purchase tickets in advance online at www.FootlightersTheater.com.
Directed by Andrew Maksymowych, the cast includes Michele Loor Nicolay, Alexander Emmert, Kristin Devine and Sara Osi Scott. Reviewer tickets are available by emailing sue@footlighterstheater.com.
For further information, contact Sue Scott, Footlighters Theater, sue@footlighterstheater.com/scottpax@gmail.com or 484.802.4505.
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Theater/Organization Footlighters Theater
Theater/Organization Website: http://www.footlighterstheater.com
Theater/Organization Address: 58 Main Avenue Berwyn, Pennsylvania 19312 (Map It)
Theater/Organization Phone: (610) 296-9245
