'Doubt: A Parable' At Olney Theatre

Doubt plays on the New Mainstage February 13 – March 9. Tickets are just $25 - $48 with discounts available to groups, seniors, and students. Call the Box Office at 301.924.3400 or visit olneytheatre.org for tickets. In addition, Olney offers several special performances that include sign interpretation, audio description, and post-show discussions. (Please see the attached "Fact Sheet" for more details.)

Set in a Bronx Catholic School in 1964, Doubt follows Sister Aloysius Beauvier, a deeply principled nun, who suspects Father Brendan Flynn, a popular new priest, of improper conduct with a student who happens to be the only African American child in the school. Meanwhile Sister James, an earnest young nun, gets caught up in the conflict. "One some levels this play is very much a whodunit. However, the audience is missing the point of the play if they focus just on whether or not the priest is guilty." Doubt is raised in throughout the play; doubting anyone's right to moral certainly, the system, and perhaps even the church.

Throughout the play, the audience is very away of societal tension. "The play takes place in 1964, which is right before the world changed. This is before civil rights, the feminist movement, and even Vatican II," said Going. The characters in the play are caught between an old structure and a world on the verge of significant change.

The cast consists of the talented Brigid Cleary as Sister Aloysius Beauvier. Cleary has performed more than 40 productions at Olney including A Streetcar Named Desire (dir. John Going). She has performed extensively in the DC-area and is a four-time Helen Hayes Award nominee. Cleary is a graduate of Catholic University's Drama Department, and a former National Player. James Denvil makes his Olney debut as Father Brendan Flynn. Locally he has appeared in Edward II at Shakespeare Theatre Company, Much Ado About Nothing at Folger Theatre, and Light up the Sky at Everyman Theatre. Performing the novice young nun Sister James is Patricia Hurley. Hurley returns to Olney having just performed in Fiddler on the Roof. Hurley has also been seen as Lady Stutfield in Lady Windermere's Fan at Shakespeare Theatre Company. She received a BM in Musical Theatre from The Catholic University of America's Benjamin T. Rome School of Music. Deidra LaWan Starnes is also a four-time Helen Hayes Award nominee. She will play the part of Mrs. Muller, the mother of the child in question. LaWan has previously appeared in A Raisin in the Sun at Olney and received her BA in theatre from The University of Maryland.

Director John Going is Associate Artistic Director and has staged over 30 productions including last season's 13 Rue de L'Amour, I Am My Own Wife and The Constant Wife. His other Olney highlights include The Heiress, Morning's at Seven, Lend Me a Tenor, Noises Off, Mrs. Warren's Profession, A Streetcar Named Desire, and Lucky Stiff (1990 Helen Hayes Award, Outstanding Resident Musical). A four-time Helen Hayes Award nominee, Going received the award for Outstanding Direction for his work on The Miser at the Shakespeare Theatre at the Folger. He recently won the Kevin Kline Award for Best Director for I Am My Own Wife at The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis.

The Doubt design team will create a seamless, highly adaptable, Bronx environment that will flow effortlessly from a school in the Bronx that will flow effortlessly from scene to scene. Scenic Designer James Wolk returns after designing for 13 Rue de L'Amour, Anything Goes and The Heiress (both dir. John Going). Resident Costume Designer Howard Vincernt Kurtz (Olney's critically acclaimed Fiddler on the Roof) will accentuate the play with a range of black, white, grey, and sepia toned designs. Dennis Parichy, the Lighting Designer, has received an Obie, Drama Desk, and Dramalogue Awards for his designs. He has previously worked on The Constant Wife and 13 Rue de L'amour at Olney. The rest of the design team is rounded out by Dialect Coach Nancy Krebs and Sound Designer Jarett C. Pisani.

John Patrick Shanley is originally from the Bronx. He grew up in the Catholic school system. Shanley went to New York University, but interrupted his college education with a tour of service in the Marines. He obtained his degree in educational theater and In 1984, he earned almost overnight recognition with his play, Danny and the Deep Blue Sea. Shanley has written many plays and movies since then including Moonstruck, Four Dogs and a Bone, and Doubt: A Parable. -- www.olneytheatre.org