An Actor's View: Doubt

Hi all, Leanne here. As you may have heard, rehearsals for DOUBT are in full swing. Having just closed "Glass Menagerie," starting up with DOUBT so quickly has definitely been challenging, but in a unique, exciting way. First of all, the writing styles of Williams and Shanley are so different. Where Williams is poetic and flowery, Shanley is blunt, yet strangely indirect. Rehearsals for "doubt" started, quite literally, an hour after "Glass Menagerie" closed. Honestly, jumping from one show to the next is like jumping in between worlds. It's as though I was gliding along smoothly and then I suddenly hit this brick wall that is the world of Shanley. His characters are incredibly complex, and so real. Even in this play, "Doubt," the members of the clergy have specific, definite flaws that get in the way of what they want from the world.

Rehearsals are very focused and intense. We're breaking the scenes down into sections that we call "beats," or energy cycles. It's a very efficient way to discover the flow of the scene from one subject, or beat, to the next.

Sister James -- her heart is genuine, but she loses sight of what's best for her students when Sister Aloysius (Al-o-wish-us) plants the first seeds of doubt. After that, she does all she can to restore her faith in herself, her teaching and her school, but those seeds can never be erased. Once something is learned, it cannot be forgotten. This play is very much a journey into adulthood for Sister James. As children we are complacent, and adults hide from us the difficulties and fears of the world in order for them to live happy, innocent lives. Sister James wants to give that to her children while at the same time remaining free and happy herself. But as Sister Aloysius says, "It is not our job to be complacent... that's what we give them."

--Leanne