DOUBT by John Patrick Shanley Opens Today!

The latest production of the Westport Community Theatre, Doubt: A Parable by John Patrick Shanley, takes the stage from February 10 through 26. Doubt won the 2005 Pulitzer Prize for Best Drama and Tony Award for Best Play. Kevin Pelkey directs the WCT production, with an outstanding local cast of Kristen Gagliardi, Tondrea Mabins, T. Sean Maher and Susan Stanton. Wendy Kleros & Donna McLoughlin Wyant co-produce the show.

In Doubt, set in 1964, Father Flynn, the progressive and beloved priest at the St. Nicholas Church School in the Bronx preaches about the value of uncertainty. When an unconscionable accusation is leveled against the Father, Sister Aloysius, a rigidly conservative nun and the school principal, realizes that the only way to get justice is to create it herself. John Patrick Shanley's play delves into the murky shadows of moral certainty, with his characters always balancing on the thin line between truth and consequences. Doubt: A Parable is an exquisite, potent drama that will raise questions and answer none, leaving the audience to grapple with the discomfort of their uncertainties.

Westport resident Susan Stanton portrays Sister Aloysius in the WCT shoW. Stanton's recent roles include Anna in Two, Nat in Rabbit Hole and All My Children. Her film, Letting Go, premiered at Lincoln Center's Dance on Camera Festival, and she has performed multiple times with Play With Your Food. Stanton is a member of the Theatre Artists Workshop and is currently working on her one-woman show, Collecting Driftwood.

T. Sean Maher who plays Father Flynn is making his debut with Westport Community Theatre. Maher has worked with Music Theatre of CT and Boston Post Road Stage Company, and his work as actor, director, choreographer and producer has been seen throughout the U.S. Most recently he has appeared as Meyer Wolfsheim in The Great Gatsby, Mr. Simmons in Memphis, Capt. Whitaker in A Few Good Men and Molokov in Chess at Bridgeport's Downtown Cabaret Theatre. Maher is choreographer/set designer for West Haven High School Theatre Workshop and is Business Manager for the world renowned Yale Glee Club.

Kristin Gagliardi, who was last seen on stage as Peggy Day in The Women, plays Sister James. Her past roles include Penny Pingleton in Hairspray, JorDan Baker in The Great Gatsby, Pem Farnsworth in The Farnsworth Invention, and has a future role as Cassie Cooper in Rumors at The Ridgefield Theater Barn in March 2017.

Tondrea Mabins graduated from Belmont University with a B.A. in Theatre, concentrating in playwriting and directing. She plays Mrs. Muller in the WCT production. Mabins has been seen in Little Shop of Horrors as Ronnette, as Viney in The Miracle Worker, Aunt Em in The Wiz, Calpurnia in To Kill A Mockingbird, and Tina Turner in Wedding Singer.

Doubt is produced by arrangement with Dramatists Play Service Inc., and has performances from February 10 through 26, on Fridays and Saturdays at 8:00 p.m. and at 2:00 p.m. on Sundays, with a Thursday performance on February 16 at 8:00 p.m. Tickets are $25, $23 for seniors and students, and can be purchased at westportcommunitytheatre.com or by calling (203) 226-1983. The Westport Community Theatre is located at the Westport Town Hall, 110 Myrtle Avenue.

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