Park Square Theatre Presents DOUBT, 4/20-5/13

Park Square Theatre presents John Patrick Shanley's Tony-award-winning play, Doubt, A Parable, April 20-May 13. The play, which also won the 2005 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, confronts the issues of hierarchical power, control, uncertainties and doubt. Set in a Catholic school in the Bronx in the 1960s, Doubt tells the story of an old-school, no-nonsense nun who considers charging a charismatic young priest with her unproven allegations. The drama takes place in a school much like the one playwright Shanley attended.

Park Square's production of Doubt is directed by Craig Johnson, who last directed at Park Square in 1989-90 (Candida, The Importance of Being Earnest, Fallen Angels, Tartuffe). Johnson, an audience favorite as Oscar Wilde in the June 2010 production ofSherlock Holmes and the Case of the Jersey Lily, will appear again onstage in June 2012 in Laughter on the 23^rd Floor-his 50^th show at Park Square.   

"Doubt is a riveting play that grabs the audience at the start and doesn't let go until the very final words," says Johnson. "It's almost a courtroom drama as Sister Aloysius cunningly tries to maneuver Father Flynn into a confession. The audience becomes the judge and jury-but of Father Flynn or Sister Aloysius? In every scene, maybe every moment of the play, we have to interpret the guilt or innocence of each."  

Ben Brantley of the New York Times wrote that Doubt "is an inspired study in moral uncertainty with the compellingly certain structure of an old-fashioned detective drama. Even as Doubt holds your conscious attention as an intelligently measured debate play, it sends off stealth charges that go deeper emotionally."

Johnson has assembled a stellar cast to present this riveting story set in 1964-a time of great change in the United States and the world: Linda Kelsey (Dead Man's Cell Phone, Frozen, Mary Stuart) is the formidable Sister Aloysius Beauvier;  David Mann (Of Mice and Men, Opus) is Father Brendan Flynn, Regina Marie Williams (Gee's Bend, Constant Star) is the mother of the young African-American student, Mrs. Muller, and Anna Sundberg (Rock 'n' Roll), recently recognized as the 2011 Ivey Awards Emerging Artist, is the young and impressionable  Sister James.  Linda Kelsey portrayed Sister Aloysius in the Peterborough Players (New Hampshire) production in September 2008. 

Joining director Craig Johnson, the artistic production team includes Kirby Moore (Scenic Designer), Mandi Johnson (Costume Designer), Michael P. Kittel (Lighting Designer), Katharine Horowitz (Sound Designer), Gunther Gullickson (Properties Designer) and Megan West (Stage Manager). 

Performance Schedule:  Previews open April 20 and run through April 26. Friday, April 27 is opening night, and the play runs through Sunday, May 13. Showtimes are 7:30 p.m. except for Sunday performances, which begin at 2 p.m. All performances are in the company's intimate 340-seat theater in Saint Paul's historic Hamm Building, 20 W. Seventh Place. 

Ticket prices: Previews: $25. Regular Run $38 & $58. Discounts are available for seniors, those under age 30, and groups. Tickets are on sale at the Park Square box office, 20 W. Seventh Place, or by phone: 651.291.7005, (12 noon-5 p.m. Monday through Friday), or online at www.parksquaretheatre.org.