Theatre Memphis to Present DOUBT, 11/6-21

An intensely dramatic parable, Theatre Memphis' production of Doubt will open November 6 and run until November 21, 2015, in the Next Stage. Winner of the Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award for Best play, Doubt is set in the Bronx in 1964 where a rigidly conservative nun who is Principal at a Catholic elementary school comes to believe there has been sexual misconduct between a beloved, progressive parish priest and the school's only African American student. Even confronting the priest and the child's mother does not bring light to the mysterious circumstances and the church's resolution only brings more mistrust and suspicion to the Sister's beliefs.

Tony Isbell directs the production at TM and thinks navigating the controversial subject matter is simply a matter of letting the ambiguity keep the audience guessing. "To my mind the show is not "about" sexual abuse. That would be a very different type of play," he says. "What the show is really about is the impossibility of ever knowing anything with absolute certainty ... is there ever one, absolute truth? In the course of the play we see these characters, all with different degrees of certainty and doubt, struggle to reach some understanding of the truth. And though actions are taken and results are obtained, the answer to the ultimate question is never given. The audience is left to try to puzzle out the solution in their own minds. And I think this was Shanley's intention."

The cast consists of accomplished actors Christina Wellford Scott as Sister Aloysius Beauvier (Principal) and Ryan Kathman as Father Brendan Flynn (Priest). Michelle Miklosey and Antoinette K. Harris round out the small, established ensemble as Sister James and Mrs. Muller, respectively.

Executive Producer of Theatre Memphis, Debbie Litch says, "Though the scandalous premise of the show is terribly current, the interest here is about the human condition of basic trust. Our Next Stage is a perfect venue to offer up these types of issues for discussion and reflect on what is a larger question, Who can you believe?"

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