Doubt: A Parable in Walnut Creek
Instead of buying tickets for the movies this weekend, why not go see a play instead?
Winner of the Tony Award for best play as well as the Pulitzer Prize for drama in 2005, Center REPertory Company presents John Patrick Shanley's Doubt: A Parable directed by Timothy Near. Now showing at the Bay Area's Lesher Center for the Arts located in downtown Walnut Creek .
An astonishing 24 awards under its list of achievements, the play was written as well as influenced by the unsettling ashes of uncertainty about our political leaders during a post 9/11 America .
Doubt shares in a similar uncertainty within the realms of St. Nicholas Church School in 1964. A nun and her parish priest in a battle of uncompromising modes of conduct over the students.
Without doubt, the discomfort of ambiguity is the driving force and centerpiece of this curious play set in The Bronx of New York.
As the opening line is delivered by the convincing Kevin Rolston as the charismatic Father Brendan Flynn, "What do you do when you're not sure?"
A doubtful answer to this inquiry is delivered by Lorri Holt as she steals the stage as the puritanical and calculating school principle Sister Aloysius Beauvier.
Holt executes a frighteningly arresting performance as her character seeks to extract the progressively modern Father Flynn from the church due to a suspicious relationship with the schools first black student, Donald Muller.
Upholding her commitment to fixed values of fear- invoking discipline and doctrine, Sister Aloysius disagrees with Father Flynn's overly friendly attitude towards the boy, as well as other students.
Is the priest truly guilty or is the nun simply overreacting to the merely relaxed relationship the priest shares with the students?
Will Sister Aloysius' traditional instincts prevail over Father Flynn's contemporary ways?
The Sister James played by Linda Morache, joins forces with Sister Aloysius as they scavenge for evidence in a controversial preconception without concrete facts.
Loyal to a fault Morache is as she constructs the character rendition of the young Sister James, a tender and optimistic heart inexperienced with church politics but eager to please the upper-hand of Sister Aloysius.
But Sister James eventually has doubts herself about Father Flynn's suspect allegations.
In an attempt to gain an ally, Sister Aloysius tries to arrange an alliance in her convictions by informing Muller's mother, played by BW Gonzalez, of her suppositions but fails.
Muller is a practical woman with stern wisdom believing only in what is best for her son.
Although a small part, Gonzalez's seamless delivery governs much visibility on the cultural issues blacks had to face at the time of the mid-sixties.
A finely tuned cast in accord to the adopted perspectives each character endorses, Doubt is an enticing and tantalizing ride strapped in a gamble of guess.
It's a suspenseful hour and a half that bonds the audience together in a web of perpetual doubt until the very end.
Not to mention, the drama unfolds on a moving set rotating between scenes while the performers are still playing their parts, adding dimension to the overall affect.
Don't miss out on the few remaining shows. Performances are held Wednesday through Saturdays only until Nov. 22.
Call for tickets at 925. 943. SHOW or order tickets online at www. lesherartscenter. org. Tickets are marked at a reasonable $39.
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