8 // COASTWEEKEND.COM
IN DOUBT
Rising Tide Productions
stages Pulitzer Prize-
winning play in Nehalem
All three lead
performers in
the production
of ‘Doubt’ take
the stage at once
during a rehearsal
in Nehalem.
COLIN MURPHEY
THE DAILY ASTORIAN
By ERICK BENGEL
FOR COAST WEEKEND
I
n a New York Catholic school
in 1964, the head nun, Sister
Aloysius, suspects the school’s
new priest of sexually abusing a
student.
The priest, a popular, likable man
named Father Flynn, offers a plausi-
ble denial. But the nun — equipped
with no evidence except her unbend-
ing certainty — sets out to remove
the priest.
The collision between these
characters is at the heart of “Doubt,
A Parable,” the latest show mounted
by Rising Tide Productions, a local
nonprofi t theater company.
The play, staged at the North
County Recreation District Perform-
ing Arts Center in Nehalem, opens
7 p.m. Friday, July 14, and runs
through Sunday, July 30.
Directed by George Dzundza
— a professional actor and Netarts
resident known for roles in fi lms
such as “The Deer Hunter” and
“Crimson Tide,” and TV shows that
include “Law & Order” and “Grey’s
Anatomy” — “Doubt” features
actors familiar to community theater
audiences in Clatsop and Tillamook
counties.
‘Tension and heartache’
John Patrick Shanley’s 2004
play, which won a Tony Award for
Best Play and the Pulitzer Prize for
Drama, is “relevant for our times,”
Dzundza said.
“I think that we have a lot of
things going on in the United States
today that were going on in 1964,”
he said.
Cast member Brenna Sage, of
Hebo, pointed out that looming
behind the action is the creation of
Vatican II, when the Catholic Church
adopted a more welcoming stance
toward the modern world. Father
Flynn’s liberal views, refl ecting the
reformed Church, clash with those
of the conservative Sister Aloysius, a
staunch defender of the old ways.
“When there’s a battle between
the traditionalists and a progressive,
there’s a lot of tension and heart-
ache,” Dzundza said.
Is Sister Aloysius on a moral
mission to catch a pedophile priest?
Or has she merely found a way to
take down a man whose openness
and tolerance offend her?
“There is absolutely no evidence
that this priest has done anything
wrong,” Dzundza said. “The purpose
Continued on Page 9