Playwright John Patrick Shanley’s Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning drama Doubt: A Parable, opens March 3, 2023 at Lakewood Theatre Company and continues through April 8, 2023, playing Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights at 7:30 PM, one Wednesday performance (March 22) at 7:30 PM, one Saturday matinee at 2:00 PM (April 1), and Sunday matinees at 2:00 PM (March 5, 12, 19, 26 and April 2). The show’s title sponsors are Sen. Bob Packwood & Elaine Franklin. The directorial sponsor is The Duffy Family and the guest artist sponsor is the Lakewood Center Associates.

The story: Father Flynn states in one of his sermons in the play, ”Doubt can be a bond as powerful and sustaining as certainty.” Although written in 2004, long before social media posts could take down an entire career with just a handful of words or unsubstantiated accusations, Shanley’s thought provoking drama now serves as a cautionary tale of the power of sowing doubt and where the line is drawn between suspicion and belief.  

The ensemble cast includes Todd Hermanson as Father Flynn, Diane Kondrat as Sister Aloysius, Ariel Puls as Sister James, and Victoria Alvarez-Chacon as Mrs. Muller.  

LTC’s production of Doubt: A Parable is directed by Antonio Sonera, the stage manager is Clementine Dorsey, scenic design is by John Gerth, sound design is by Richard “R.J.” Julia, lighting design is by Demetri Pavlatos, costume design is by Jami Chatalas Blanchard, properties design is by Micah N. Steury, production manager is Kendra Comerford, and the producer is Steve Knox.

The theatre is located at Lakewood Center for the Arts, 368 S. State St. in Lake Oswego. Ticket prices are $39/adults and $36/seniors. Other discounts are available for students and groups. For additional information and tickets, call the Lakewood Box Office at (503) 635-3901 or order online at www.lakewood-center.org. 

Special note: On Wednesday, March 22, the theatre continues its program called WOW: 25-35. For audience-goers 35 and under, tickets are priced at $25 each. Use the code WOW25 when ordering tickets online to get this special discount. At this performance, there will be a complimentary wine tasting one hour before curtain courtesy of Willamette Vineyards. OLCC rules apply! Bring your ID for the tasting!

THE FACTS IN BRIEF:

What?

Doubt: A Parable, plays at Lakewood Theatre Company March 3 – April 8, 2023

In this brilliant and powerful drama by John Patrick Shanley, Sister Aloysius, a Bronx school principal, takes matters into her own hands when she suspects the young Father Flynn of impropriety. An engaging examination of the grey areas between suspicion, certainty, and doubt.

Where?          

LAKEWOOD THEATRE COMPANY

Headlee Mainstage: A 220-seat stage at Lakewood Center for the Arts. This hall provides excellent sight lines with no seating further than 35 feet from the front of the stage.

Location: 368 S. State Street, Lake Oswego, OR 97034

When?

Runs:  March 3 – April 8, 2023

Performances begin March 3 and continue through April 8, 2023, playing Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights at 7:30 PM, one Wednesday performance (March 22) at 7:30 PM, one Saturday matinee at 2:00 PM (April 1), and Sunday matinees at 2:00 PM (March 5, 12, 19,26 and April 2). The show’s title sponsors are Sen. Bob Packwood & Elaine Franklin. The directorial sponsor is The Duffy Family, and the guest artist sponsor is the Lakewood Center Associates.

Ticket Reservations:

503-635-3901 or online at www.lakewood-center.org

Tickets:

$39/Adults, $36/Senior and discounts for students and groups.

LAKEWOOD THEATRE COMPANY WEBSITE:

www.lakewood-center.org

About Lakewood Theatre Company

70 Years of Live Theatre: Founded as a not-for-profit organization in 1952, Lakewood Theatre Company is a theatre dedicated to the study and presentation of drama in all its forms; the training and development of actors; and the creation, maintenance, and operation of a theatre in which to present plays and other forms of entertainment. Lakewood Theatre Company is the oldest continually operated, not-for-profit theatre company in the Portland Metropolitan area. It annually provides more than 350 theatre artists the opportunity to learn and display their craft and attracts more than 35,000 people to its shows.

- 70th Anniversary Season -

Productions in the 2022-23 season are underwritten, in part, by

The Regional Arts & Culture Council

The Oregon Arts Commission

The National Endowment for the Arts

The Kinsman Foundation

The James F. & Marion L. Miller Foundation

Marilyn & Ron Nutting

M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust

The Jackson Foundation

The Marie Lamfrom Charitable Foundation

Media Sponsor: The Oregonian, Powering OregonLive

Additional Material for Doubt: A Parable

John Patrick Shanley (Playwright) 

Born in 1950, Shanley grew up the youngest of five children in an Irish-Catholic family whose home was in the Bronx neighborhood of East Tremont. His father, a meatpacker, was an Irish immigrant, while Shanley's mother was the daughter of Irish immigrants. His plays include Danny and the Deep Blue Sea, Savage in Limbo, the dreamer examines his pillow, Beggars in the House of Plenty, Welcome to the Moon, Where's My Money, Dirty Story, Sailor's Song, and Doubt: A Parable.

In film, Mr. Shanley has had four screenplays produced: Five Corners, Moonstruck, The January Man and Joe Versus the Volcano. Five Corners won the Special Jury Prize for its screenplay at the Barcelona Theatre Festival. For Moonstruck, Shanley received both the Academy Award and the Writers Guild of America Award for Best Original Screenplay. He also did the film adaptions of both Alive and Congo. 

Shanley now lives in New York City's Brooklyn Heights neighborhood and is parent to two teenagers. He has undergone several surgeries for glaucoma and lost some of his vision despite them. Uninterested in returning to Hollywood, he said in the New York Times Magazine profile that the lucrative screenwriting work he once did seem to have satisfied his desire for fame and fortune for good. "Money is like heroin, and I grew up in a neighborhood that was destroyed by heroin," he said. "I've watched addiction all my life. Celebrity is like heroin. And constant praise is like heroin. And, you know, no one can resist constant praise. I had to get out."

In describing his play in 2005 Shanley notes: “There's a symptom apparent in America right now. It's evident in political talk shows, in entertainment coverage, in artistic criticism of every kind, in religious discussion. We are living in a courtroom culture. We were living in a celebrity culture, but that's dead. Now we're only interested in celebrities if they're in court. We are living in a culture of extreme advocacy, of confrontation, of judgment, and of verdict. Discussion has given way to debate. Communication has become a contest of wills. Public talking has become obnoxious and insincere. Why? Maybe it's because deep down under the chatter we have come to a place where we know that we don't know ... anything. But nobody's willing to say that.

About the Director: Antonio Sonera

Doubt: A Parable is Antonio Sonera’s third production with Lakewood Theatre Company. His first was God of Carnage in 2016 for which he was nominated for a Drammy Award for Direction, and his second was Inherit the Wind in 2018 for which he received OTAS (Oregon Theatrical Awards Society) awards for Best Director of a Play and Best Play. In Portland, he has directed over 35 productions for various theatres including CoHo Productions, Theatre Vertigo, Portland Actors Conservatory, Tabuki Theatre, Paula Productions, Dance Naked Productions, Base Roots, CLIMB Theatre, Milagro Theatre, and Artists Repertory Theatre. Antonio is also the founder and former Producing Artistic Director of Badass Theatre Company. In 2008, he was selected as a Future Leader in American Theatre by Theatre Communications Group in New York.