'Doubt' Opens Robsham's Spring Season
02/02/12
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The Theatre Department continues the Robsham Theater Arts Center 30th anniversary season this semester, beginning with John Patrick Shanley's Pulitzer Prize-winning play “Doubt, A Parable,” which opened Feb.1. Directed by Associate Professor of Theatre John Houchin, “Doubt” will be performed through Feb. 5.
The play, set in 1964 in a Catholic elementary school in the Bronx, revolves around the principal’s suspicions about the parish priest’s relationship with a schoolboy. One of the most powerful and riveting American dramas of the 21st century, according to play organizers, it engages audiences on numerous levels, provokes emotional responses and triggers thought about difficult moral questions.
"It's exactly the play we should be doing at Boston College," said Theatre Department Chair Scott T. Cummings. "I like to call it a 'theological thriller.' It's suspenseful while you watch it and it leaves a lot to talk about when it's over. Yes, it's topical because of recent child sexual abuse scandals, but that's not really what it's about. It's about the difficulty of knowing with certainty. What makes us so sure that what we think is true really is true?"
“This play poses a formidable challenge to student actors,” Houchin added. “It confronts disturbing questions that involve conflicts of conscience and colliding realities. The character work has to be both honest and nuanced.”
Comic playwright Aristophanes’ war-of-the-sexes masterpiece “Lysistrata” will be staged from Feb. 23-25. This Theatre Department workshop production is directed by Alex Lucci ’12.
To celebrate the long tradition of dance at the Robsham, on March 30 and 31 the Theatre Department will present “Rising Up,” featuring faculty choreographers and student dancers, with artistic direction by Adjunct Assistant Professor of Theatre Sun Ho Kim, a professional dancer who is founder and director of his own performance ensemble. The show will showcase a variety of movement and dance genres, including jazz, tap, modern and ballet.
The season ends April 26-29 during the BC Arts Festival with Shakespeare's classic comedy “A Midsummer Night’s Dream," directed by Adjunct Associate Professor of Theatre Luke Jorgensen. This production has a twist: Instead of its original Greek setting, Jorgensen’s rendition will take place in colonial-era India and performed in Bollywood-style with bright colors, acrobats and dance numbers.
For ticket prices, times and other information on these productions, see www.bc.edu/theatre or call the Robsham Theater Arts Center Box Office at ext.2-4002.