Doubt Begins In Vancouver Theatre
Pulitzer Prize-Winning Play Opens 45th Season at the Arts Club.
Doubt made a massive splash on the theatre scene in 2005, when it won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama and 4 Tony Awards, including Best Play, Best Actress (Cherry Jones), Best Supporting Actress (Adriane Lenox) and Best Director (Doug Hughes). John Patrick Shanley, who wrote the play, is well known for his stage work, as well as his film scripts. He won the Academy Award for his screenplay of Moonstruck. His other plays include the dreamer examines his pillow, Savage In Limbo, Kissing Christine, and most recently, Defiance. A film version of Doubt is slated for a December 2008 release starring Meryl Streep and Philip Seymour Hoffman.
Doubt, after closing on Broadway, has since been picked up by almost every major regional theatre in the United States, and it is set to make its Canadian Premiere at the Arts Club Theatre Company on September 11th at the Stanley Industrial Alliance Stage. Starting with the Arts Club, the play will be produced by almost every major theatre company across Canada in 2008 and 2009.
The promotional materials state that Doubt is "a clash of wills and generations have unexpected, life-changing outcomes in this riveting play about the blurred line between gossip and truth."
The play takes place at a Bronx Catholic school in 1964. Father Flynn is a priest in the church who also teaches gym classes to young boys. Sister Aloysius is the principal of the school, and notices that Father Flynn has taken an interest in a new student, who happens to be the first black student to attend the school. Sister Aloysius' suspicions are put to the test when the student is found to have alcohol on his breath following a meeting with Flynn.
The Arts Club Theatre Company production is helmed by Rachel Ditor, who directed another Pulitizer Prize/Tony Award winning play for the Arts Club in their 2007-2008 season – Rabbit Hole by David Lindsay-Abaire.
The play stars Gabrielle Rose, known for her work in The Glass Menagerie, and Elizabeth Rex, both for the Arts Club, as Sister Aloysius, and Jonathan Young as Father Flynn. Young is a Studio 58 graduate, who is the Artistic Director of the Electric Company Theatre. He has worked extensively with The Citadel, Vancouver Playhouse, The Belfry Theatre and Bard On The Beach.
They are joined by Sasa Brown and Michele Lonsdale Smith as Sister James and Mrs. Muller.
Alison Green is the set and costume designer, Gerald King is the lighting designer, with sound design by Patrick Pennfather. The play is stage managed by Caryn Fehr and Rachel Bland.
The Arts Club Theatre Company is the largest theatre company in western Canada. They perform out of two venues – the Granville Island Stage, and the Stanley Industrial Alliance Stage in Vancouver. In the 2008-2009, they will produce 12 shows, including remounts of their holiday hits, It's a Wonderful Life, and Disney's Beauty & The Beast.
Doubt begins performances on September 11, 2008, leading up to a September 17th opening. The play will run until October 12th at the Stanley Industrial Alliance Stage.
For tickets and show information, click on the Arts Club Theatre Company website.
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