DOUBT playwright Shanley to appear at Lipscomb 6/3

Playwright/director John Patrick Shanley will make a special appearance in Nashville on Thursday, June 3, in conjuction with the David Lipscomb University theatre department's presentation of his Pulitzer Prize-winning drama, Doubt.

Starring Nashville actress Nan Gurley as Sister Aloysius, with Steven Pounders as Father Flynn, Doubt will be directed by Mike Fernandez, Lipscomb's chair of theater. Shanley's June 3 appearance is part of an invitation-only preview of Doubt, which runs June 4-12.

Shanley will present a talk-back session after the June 3 performance and will hold a book-signing after that at 9:30 p.m.

Lipscomb's staging of Doubt is produced in collaboration with Tennessee Repertory Theatre, Actors Bridge Ensemble, Amun Ra Theatre and the Nashville Shakespeare Festival and will feature a company of Nashville's theatre professionals. Public performances are June 4-5 at 7 p.m., June 6 at 2 p.m., June 11-12, at 7 p.m. and June 12 at 2 p.m.

For the general public tickets cost $20. For more information, or to order tickets, call (615) 966-7111 or at the Lipscomb theater box office.

In addition, the public can hear Shanley speak at the 30^th annual Christian Scholars' Conference (csc.lipscomb.edu) at 4 p.m. on Thursday, June 3, in Collins Alumni Auditorium. Cost is $15. Tickets can be purchased at www.lipscomb.edu/csc/public-events/ or by calling (615)966-7609.

Gurley. a longtime fixture on Nashville's best stages, was winner for the First Night Award for her one-woman show, The Diary of OpAl Whiteley and was recognized with Tennie Awards by the Tennessean for her work in The Seagull, Cyrano, The Little Foxes, Crimes of the Heart and more. She is a two-time Dove Award-winning songwriter and has written and recorded an album of songs for children entitled Small Wonder.

Pounders, an associate professor in the Department of Theatre Arts at Baylor University, is a professional actor who has worked with the Resonance Ensemble and the Ensemble Studio Theatre in New York City and in numerous regional companies including Casa Manana, Contemporary Theatre Of Dallas, Horton by the Stream in upstate New York, the Oklahoma Shakespeare Festival, Theatre Britain, Theatre Three and the WaterTower Theatre.

Shanley was awarded the 2005 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and the 2005 Tony Award for Best Play for Doubt. In 2008, Shanley premiered the movie version of Doubt, starring Meryl Streep, which went on to garner four Oscar acting nominations and a nomination for best adapted screenplay.

Shanley also wrote the screenplay for Moonstruck, which earned him both an Academy Award and the Writers Guild of America Award for Best Original Screenplay. Other stage plays by Shanley include Defiance, Savage in Limbo, Welcome to the Moon and Four Dogs and a Bone.

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