[NEohioPAL] Doubt at The Cleveland Play House

[Alison Bibb]

There’s No Doubt About It
Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning Doubt makes Cleveland debut at The
Play House

CLEVELAND (February 7, 2008) – DOUBT: A Parable, one of the most celebrated
American plays in years, makes its Northeast Ohio debut in the Drury Theatre
at The Cleveland Play House at 85th and Euclid beginning February 29 and
runs through March 23, 2008.

A creation of John Patrick Shanley, the same writer of the Academy
Award-winning motion picture Moonstruck, Doubt received its world premiere
in 2004 at the Manhattan Theatre Club. The play then transferred to
Broadway’s Walter Kerr Theatre and ran for three years. In 2005, Doubt was
awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Drama and the Drama Desk Award and Tony Award
for Best Play, the most important awards that a play can receive. 

Presented in one act at The Play House, Doubt is “essentially a two act
play,” says Seth Gordon, Cleveland Play House Associate Artistic Director
and Doubt director. “The first act takes place on the stage and the second
act happens in the car on the drive home.”

“I'm terribly excited to be working on this play. The cast and I are finding
it to be as efficient, tightly structured and well written a play as any of
us have seen,” says Gordon. “The play questions our own doubt and our sense
of certainty – questions we ask of each other, our parents, our politicians
– but not of ourselves enough.”

While Doubt is new to Cleveland, the world will know this work in late 2008
when the movie, Doubt, starring Meryl Streep and Philip Seymour Hoffman
opens in movie theaters.

ABOUT DOUBT
The year is 1964 and the Catholic Church is at a crossroads. Sister
Aloysius, the principal of St. Nicholas School in the Bronx, believes her
students should not be coddled. Father Flynn, the pastor, believes that the
clergy should be members of the family and more accessible to parishioners.
The two come into conflict when Sister Aloysius begins to suspect Father
Flynn of having an inappropriate relationship with one of the students, an
eighth grade boy.

When Sister Aloysius consults with the boy’s teacher, Sister James, she
reluctantly confesses her suspicions to the principal, hoping to stay out of
it and continue to see teaching children in a more innocent light. Armed
with what she sees as confirmation from Sister James, Aloysius begins a
ruthless pursuit of the truth, and the play comes to a boiling point as she
confronts the popular and charismatic Flynn. As Father Flynn asks at the
beginning of this story of morality and faith, “What do you do when you’re
not sure?”

ABOUT THE CAST
BARBARA ANDRES (Sister Aloysius) has performed on Broadway in Cabaret, A
Delicate Balance, Kiss of the Spider Woman , Doonesbury, On Golden Pond,
Rex, Rodgers and Hart, The Boy Friend and Jimmy; and off-Broadway in In
Fireworks Lie Secret Codes, Lincoln Center (Vivian Beaumont Theater); Arms
and the Man, Roundabout Theatre; The Landscape of the Body, The Public
Theatre; Company, York Theatre Company; On the Verge, N.Y. Directors
Workshop; Marathon: Fore/Ripe Banana, Ensemble Studio Theatre; Our Town, All
The Way Home, The Audience, Transport Group; and Meshuhah, Naked Angels
Theater Company. Her regional theatre credits include performances at The
Guthrie Theatre, Arena Stage, American Repertory Theatre, Denver Center
Theatre, Huntington Theatre Company, McCarter Theatre, Goodspeed Opera
House, Intiman Theatre, Virginia Stage Company, Gateway Playhouse, Pioneer
Theatre Company, Westport Playhouse, Walnut Street Theatre, Coconut Grove
Playhouse, Olney Theatre and Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Ms.
Andres has appeared on television in “The Sopranos,” “Damages,” “Law and
Order: Special Victims Unit,” “Law and Order: Criminal Intent,” “All My
Children,” “Third Watch,” “ABC After School Special,” “Dellaventura” and “As
the World Turns.” She has appeared in several feature films including What
About Bob?, 13 Conversations About 1 Thing , Random Hearts, The Yards, and
After the Storm.

MICHAEL FREDERIC (Father Brendan Flynn) has performed off-Broadway in Night
Over Taos, Thorny Bushes, INTAR; Vampire University, No Meat No Irony, Ohio
Theatre; Expressing Willie, West End Theatre; Irish, The Little Theatre; and
The Sky Over Ninevah, HERE. His regional theatre credits include roles at
PlayMakers Repertory Company, Public Theatre of Maine, Stageworks/Hudson,
Saratoga Springs Shakespeare Festival and Open Stage of Harrisburg. Mr.
Frederic has appeared on television in “One Life to Live” and in the film
Patch Adams. He earned an MFA from the University of North Carolina – Chapel
Hill.  

JENNIFER RUFFNER (Sister James) is a native of Akron, Ohio and has several
Cleveland-area acting credits including The Children’s Hour, Lobby Hero,
Parade, The Ride Down Mt. Morgan, Proposals, Beck Center for the Arts;
WAIT!, TITLEWave Theatre; Six Degrees of Separation, Charenton Theatre
Company; Twelfth Night, Julius Ceasar, Henry IV parts 1 & 2, Cleveland
Shakespeare Festival; V-E Day, Dobama Theatre; Herbal Bed, Actors Summit
Theater; and The Sweepers, Ensemble Theatre. Ms. Ruffner holds a BFA from
Hofstra University. 

CHERENE SNOW (Mrs. Muller) has performed off-Broadway in Walking Down
Broadway, Mint Theatre; The Last of the Thorntons, Signature Theatre; and I
See Fire in the Dead Man’s Eyes, Theatre Row. Her regional theatre credits
include roles at TheaterWorks, New Jersey Performing Arts Center, George
Street Playhouse, Arkansas Repertory Theatre, Ford’s Theatre, Two River
Theatre, Contemporary American Theater Festival, and Court Theatre. Ms. Snow
has appeared on television in “The Jury,” “Third Watch,” “Law and Order,”
“Chappelle’s Show,” “L.A. Doctors,” “Reasonable Doubt,” “Beyond Belief,”
“Caroline in the City,” “The Drew Carey Show” and “The Tonight Show with Jay
Leno.” She has appeared on film in My Sassy Girl, Goodbye Baby, City of
Angels, The Long Walk Home, Sweet Potato Ride, Out of Darkness and Three
Windows. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in theatre from Illinois State
University.
DIRECTION AND DESIGN
JOHN PATRICK SHANLEY (Playwright) is from the Bronx, New York. He was thrown
out of St. Helena’s kindergarten. He was banned from St. Anthony’s hot lunch
program for life. He was expelled from Cardinal Spellman High School. He was
placed on academic probation by New York University and instructed to appear
before a tribunal if he wished to return. When asked why he had been treated
in this way by all these institutions, he burst into tears and said he had
no idea. Then he went into the United States Marine Corps. For his script
for the 1987 film, Moonstruck, Shanley won the Academy Award for Writing
Original Screenplay and the Writers Guild of America Award for Best
Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen. In 2004 Shanley was inducted
into the Bronx Walk of Fame. He also was the writer and director for the
1990 film Joe Versus the Volcano. In 2005, the play Doubt was awarded the
Pulitzer Prize for Drama and the Drama Desk Award and Tony Award for Best
Play.

SETH GORDON (Director) is Associate Artistic Director of the Cleveland Play
House. CPH: Dinner with Friends, Proof, Forest City (world premiere),
Vincent in Brixton, Tuesdays with Morrie, A Christmas Story, The Wind in the
Willows, RFK, Of Mice and Men, Ferdinand the Bull; this season, The Chosen,
A Christmas Story CLEVELAND: Dobama Theatre, Cleveland Shakespeare Festival,
Beck Center for the Arts NEW YORK: Primary Stages, Ensemble Studio Theatre,
Theatre for the New City, many others REGIONAL: Repertory Theatre of St.
Louis, Bay Street Theatre, Studio Arena Theatre INTERNATIONAL: Arabic
premiere of Our Town in Cairo EDUCATION: High School of Performing Arts in
New York and Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh OTHER CREDITS: Mr.
Gordon previously served as Literary Manager and then as Associate Producer
of Primary Stages in New York. He has also directed and lectured at various
universities, including Case Western Reserve University. He received the
Northern Ohio Live Awards for excellence in theatre in 2004 and 2006. He
considers himself a lucky man.

RUSSELL PARKMAN (Scenic Designer) CPH: Rabbit Hole NEW YORK CITY: Shylock,
Perry Street Theatre; The Gravity of Means, Manhattan Class Company; Uncle
Vanya, La Cucaracha; The Sunday Promenade, The Game of Love, Rain, Some
Fish, No Elephants, New Theatre of Brooklyn; Rules of Love, BACA; A Raisin
in the Sun, John Jay College REGIONAL: Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park,
Portland Center Stage, Kansas City Repertory Theatre, Dallas Theatre Center,
Geva Theatre, Weston Playhouse, Playmakers Repertory Company, Municipal
Theatre of St. Louis, North Shore Music Theatre, Huntington Theatre, Denver
Center School, Yale Repertory Theatre, Ohio Northern University, Santa Fe
Stages, Sage Theatre, Dallas Shakespeare Festival, Undermain Theatre, New
Mexico Repertory Theatre, El Teatro Campesino OPERA: The Turn of the Screw,
Memphis Opera; Carmen, Santa Fe Stages; I Pagliacci, Skylight Opera
INTERNATIONAL: Don Juan Flamenco, Spain; Blind Lemon, Paris; Who’s Afraid of
Virginia Woolf?, Molly Sweeney, Teater Ibsen, Norway; Three Sisters
(Columbia)

JEFFREY VAN CURTIS (Costume Designer/Costume Shop Manager) CPH: As You Like
It, I am My Own Wife, Heartbreak House, Rounding Third, Hurlyburly, Hay
Fever, Proof, Dinner With Friends, Art, Through the Looking Glass and What
Alice Found There, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Anansi the Spider
CLEVELAND: Great Lakes Festival, Lyric Opera of Cleveland, Cain Park,
Cleveland-San Jose Ballet REGIONAL: Coconut Grove Playhouse, Studio Arena
Theatre, Music Theatre North EDUCATION: MFA, Costume Design and Technology,
University of Missouri—Kansas City AWARDS: 2007 Cambridge’s Who’s Who

TRAD A BURNS (Lighting Designer) CLEVELAND: Osama The Hero, Our Town, My
Name is Rachel Corrie, Fefu and Her Friends, Bright Room Called Day, The
Secretaries, Venus, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Blue Sky Transmission, Summer and
Smoke, Gross Indency: The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde, Cleveland Public
Theatre; Nickel and Dimed, Great Lakes Theatre Festival; The Pillowman, The
Goat or Who is Sylvia?, Dobama Theatre; Equus, Jekyll and Hyde, Song &
Dance, Porgy and Bess, Urinetown, Beck Center for the Arts; Lighting
Director, Verb Ballets BROADWAY: Assistant Designer: The Goodbye Girl,
Passion, Angels in America, The Who’s Tommy, Translations, The Heiress,
Beauty and the Beast OFF-BROADWAY: Dim Sum, Rat Woman, Thin Walls, The
Flatted Fifth, My Virginia, New York Theatre Workshop; Wake Up I’m Fat,
Public Theatre REGIONAL: Indiana Repertory Theatre, Goodspeed Opera House,
Jupiter Theatre TELEVISION: “Stars on Ice”

JAMES C. SWONGER (Resident Sound Designer) CPH: Gee’s Bend, The Chosen,
Bunnicula, Man of La Mancha, Trumbo, Lincolnesque, The Clean House, Cuttin’
Up, Of Mice and Men, RFK, Rabbit Hole, Dream a Little Dream, Custody of the
Eyes, Well, A Streetcar Named Desire, A Christmas Story, I Am My Own Wife,
Room Service, Bad Dates, Restoring the Sun, Rounding Third, The Real Thing,
The Piano Lesson, John Henry, Tuesdays with Morrie, Plaid Tidings, Crowns,
Hurlyburly REGIONAL: Cleveland’s Lyric Opera, Utah Festival Opera Company,
Utah’s Pioneer Theatre Company, Baltimore’s Center Stage, New Jersey’s
George Street Playhouse, Yale Repertory Theater OTHER CREDITS: designed the
premiere productions of The Tragic Demise of Whaleship Essex, Swinging on a
Star: A Tribute to the Music of Johnny Burke, Tangents, and The Count of
Monte Cristo, adapted by Charles Morey; designed sound system installations
for restaurants, theatres, and churches; former adjunct professor for the
University of Utah’s Fine Arts program

CHARLES KARTALI (Dialect Coach) CPH: The Chosen CLEVELAND: Sideman, The
Weir, Bad Seed, Full Moon, Ensemble Theatre; The Heart Rising (reading),
Dobama Theatre REGIONAL: Greenbrier Valley Theatre, The American Classics
Festival  EDUCATION: BFA, Case Western Reserve University OTHER CREDITS:
WordBRIDGE Playwrights’ Lab (St. Petersburg, FL/Clemson, SC) CPH ACTING
CREDITS: A Christmas Story, Tuesdays with Morrie, Trumbo, FusionFest 2006-07
CLEVELAND ACTING CREDITS (select): The Goat, or Who is Sylvia?, Dobama
Theatre; A Bright Room Called Day, Cleveland Public Theatre; The Price,
Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune, Ensemble Theatre; Awake and Sing,
Halle Theatre REGIONAL ACTING CREDITS (select) : American Stage, Aspen
Theatre in the Park, BoarsHead Theater, Shadowland Theatre, Steppenwolf
Theatre Company, The American Classics Festival

Founded in 1915, The Cleveland Play House is the first permanently
established professional theatre in the United States. More than 12 million
people have attended over 1,300 productions at The Play House – including
more than 130 American and/or World Premieres. Today, under the leadership
of Artistic Director Michael Bloom and Managing Director Kevin Moore, The
Cleveland Play House is an artist-driven theatre that serves the Greater
Cleveland community by holding true to its mission:

To produce plays of the highest professional standards that inspire,
stimulate, and entertain our diverse audiences, and to conduct training and
educational programs that enhance the quality of life for those we serve and
help to insure the future of theatre.

The Ohio Arts Council helps to fund The Cleveland Play House with state tax
dollars to encourage economic growth, educational excellence and cultural
enrichment for all Ohioans.

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Alison Bibb-Carson
Associate Director of Communications and Marketing
The Cleveland Play House
8500 Euclid Avenue
Cleveland, Ohio  44106
216.795.7000 x236
SEEINGISBELIEVING...www.clevelandplayhouse.com

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