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The Bay City Players Explore the Moral Complexities of DOUBT: A Conversation with Director Susan Craves By Robert E. Martin
- John Patrick Shanley on why he wrote the play ‘Doubt’
For those unfamiliar with the contemporary powerhouse dramatic play Doubt: A Parable, the ‘black mother’ that Shanley refers to is the mother of the first and only black child enrolled at St. Nicholas School located in the Bronx. When a Sister at the school believes that a priest, Father Flynn, has abused this boy, her suspicions are presented to the boy’s mother, who quickly fires back with an attitude of uncertainty. And it is from these opposing terrains of belief and uncertainty that the fascinating puzzle and mystery of Doubt unfurls, as the Bay City Players tackle one of the most critically acclaimed new plays in years in an innovative production that runs from February 26-28 and March 4-7th. Director Susan Craves says she has long been a fan of playwright John Patrick Shanley’s work and that Moonstruck, for which he won an Oscar for Best Screenplay, stands as one of her all time favorite movies. Consequently, she is thrilled to be tackling the complexities of human nature that are examined in Doubt. “In my opinion, he gets women and writes us very well, true, and complex,” reflects Craves. “I became a fan of this play after seeing it on Broadway and was thankful that it was not used as a vehicle to lambaste the Catholic Church. In my interpretation, I see the play as a lesson that people are who they are, and that we only know the truth as we live it ourselves, in our own lives. There are many lessons to be learned from this work, but essentially it centers on the notion that one shouldn’t be too quick to judge a person, right or wrong, good or bad. Be careful what you say, for how certain are you that the story you are determining to be factual actually is?” Craves sites one of the scenes in the production to illustrate her point. “During one of the sermons that Father Flynn gives in this play, he explains how gossip works with an illustration. ‘Go home, take a pillow up on your roof, cut it open with a knife, and the feather’s fly everywhere, taken by the wind. Now go and collect each feather!” “But I can’t, that’s impossible! And that,” says the priest, “is gossip!” Set in the Bronx during the fall of 1964, Doubt originally premiered on November 23, 2004 at the Manhattan Theatre Club in New York City. It was performed in one act running approximately 90-minutes and in interviews, the cast said that the second act that took place was when the audience left the theatre and began to discuss their differing opinions of the events rendered in the production. In 2005 Doubt won both the Pulitzer Prize for Drama and the Tony Award for Best Play, Actress, and Director. Ironically, it was directed by Roman Polanski during its run in Paris in late 2006 and in 2008 it was adapted into film, starring Meryl Streep and Philip Seymour Hoffman. The play’s balance of conflicting viewpoints, combined with its austere institutional setting and sensational front-page subject matter allow each of the actors the latitude to explore aspects of thought and personality that are anything but solid. “We are fortunate to have four talented actors in this production,” notes Craves. “Margaret Bird is Sister Alyosius, Maria Vos is Sister James, Cameron Pichan is Father Flynn and Tamera Charles is Mrs. Muller. Each brings a different level of experience to their role. Tamera has never been on stage before, while Margaret brings a wealth of theatre credits to her role. Together they are a fine ensemble, each guiding the other; and the chemistry is as it should be.” When asked what factors she feels distinguish this production in the lexicon of contemporary theatre and render it unique, Craves sites the name of the play as a perfect starting point. “John Patrick Shanley has created a story that does not have an absolute resolve,” she reflects. “Usually a playwright dictates the truth of the story by ending the play with an absolute, such as two people absolutely fall in love and are married; or the man cons a town into believing he’s the ultimate music teacher and then comes clean, tells the truth, and he and the librarian live happily ever after.” “With ‘Doubt’ we don’t know what the truth is. Only two people know the truth and the others operate upon suspicion. The young nun recruited to ally against the priest by the sister/principal does not know the truth because she only knows what her superior views as suspicious behavior, which cause her to now view the priest with her own feelings of doubt.” “I have asked each of the four actors to firmly commit to what they believe the truth to be,” continues Craves. “Did the priest molest the boy? I’ve asked them to share their conclusion with only my assistant director, Nathan Cholger and me. While each of them has a different opinion, they all share one thought – nobody is really certain if they are right and not without their own ‘doubts’.” Are there any particular technical considerations about this production that make it difficult to translate; or is it fairly smooth to bring together on the stage? “The play takes place in two different areas of the Parish school and church - the Principal's office and the courtyard outside of the church. There are also monologues that the priest gives that are done as sermons in church or in the rectory gymnasium while he coaches basketball. While these scene locations may not present a degree of difficulty, there is the challenge of executing the action on a stage that must be all four locations without any set changes,” notes Craves. “We have a set that has been creatively designed by Leeds Bird and his expertise is continuing into the area of set decoration with our talented set decorator, Michael Wisnewski. An effective Lighting Design will also be also be imperative to the believability of the plays' settings.” Craves has been involved in theatre productions since 1984 as an actor, dancer, costumer, stage dresser, stage manager, assistant director, choreographer, and make-up artist. Her first solo as a director was in 2004 and she has directed many one-act plays and one full-length production. “I feel the many different aspects of theatre that I have been involved with have strengthened my directorial muscles,” she reflects. “I have been studying the art of acting since 2001, specifically the "Sanford Meisner Technique" of acting. I trained for 3 years with Kensington School of Performing Arts in Troy, Michigan and I am currently studying with the Purple Rose Theatre in Chelsea, Michigan.” “I hope to continue my studies until I take my last breath, as I believe that an actor/director should NEVER stop learning and honing their skills.” “My primary goal is very simple – Tell the Truth. I believe that if the actors believe in the life that they are living on stage, so will the audiences. Audiences are savvy and they know when an actor is working hard to "sell" a thought or "play" an emotion’ “As an actor, I strive to find the element of truth that I can identify with as I prepare my character. As a director, I demand the same commitment to the truth from the actors that I guide. Sanford Meisner taught his actors to ‘live truthfully in imaginary circumstances.’ Following that simple mantra is liberating, as it takes the pressure off an actor to ‘pretend, play, and emote’.” “I cannot stress this enough – an audience will know when an actor is ‘acting’. That same audience will appreciate the actor who remains truthful to the character that they are giving life to.” “I cannot think of one thing that has been a challenge about this production in a bad way,” concludes Craves. “Well, not one thing that is challenging beyond the usual challenge of presenting a first rate production and not letting the actors and audience down, as well as living up to the reputation of fine theatre that Bay City Players enjoys.” The Box Office for ‘Doubt’ opens on February 18th. You can purchase tickets by going to baycityplayers.com or call 989-893-5555 for more information.
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“We
were living in a time of great ‘certainty’ in our country, leading up to
the Iraq War, and when I wrote this play I didn’t feel ‘certain’. The
culture around me seemed to be sending me a message that I didn’t feel
certain because I was weak, and I didn’t agree with that. So germ of an
idea about certainty and doubt was there, but it’s not something that I
would have written about. Things started getting interesting when I
thought about the ‘black mother’, because in all of my experiences of
life, people have their reasons for doing things and there are rarely
very specific reasons why people do things. It’s usually a fairly
complicated tale. And I wanted to tell that tale, so I wrote the play.”