Doubt
Pulitzer drama comes to Hilo
by Tiffany Edwards
The powers that-be at the East
Hawaii Cultural Center have chosen a true intellectual drama for their
debut production.
Doubt: a Parable-winner of four 2005 Tony Awards, a Pulitzer Prize and
a host of other kudos-provides a good dose of dramatic arts, is a brain
twister to boot, says director Jim Thompson.
"This is a play that you go to so you can think," Thompson
says. "You can get a nice piece of literature and drama."
Set in a Catholic school in 1964, the play is about Sister Aloysius
(Jeri Gertz), a school principal who accuses a priest, Father Flynn
(Roger Loesch) of sexually inappropriate behavior with students. Two
other characters in the play are Mrs. Muller (Amelia Walker), a student's
mother, and Sister James (Mimi Tincher), a schoolteacher.
"It's a time when there is a lot of turmoil in America, right after
the assassination of Kennedy, in the middle of the civil rights movement:
a changing of the generations, when there was a different outlook on
life," Thompson explains. "It's a time when the church that
administers the school is going through changes, becomes more liberal.
And some, like the principal of the school are not happy with the changes,
whereas the priest is desiring of a more liberal, more open environment,"
he says.
Thompson suggests the conflict that lies between the resistance and
desire for change is what prompts the accusations on which the play
is focused.
Although the play is set some 33 years ago, Thompson notes that it is
contemporary in that it addresses themes that we've seen in the headlines
in recent years: numerous Catholic priests being convicted of pedophilia
and the Church paying millions in damages to victims, prominent fundamentalist
Christian leaders patronizing prostitutes and being jailed for embezelling
church funds, and a prominent (and vehemently anti-gay) preacher being
outed as a homosexual.
"The accusations are just as modern as today. Accusations against
the church; people who want to keep the old ways, those who want to
adopt more modern ways. It's a very serious drama, and really very few
of those are done in theatre outside of places like New York,"
Thompson says.
The director lauds EHCC for their bravery in selecting such a seriously
intellectual play over lighter fare for their premiere production. (Past
productions at EHCC were were produced by the Hilo Community Players
or other groups).
Thompson recently moved to Hilo after 16 years in California, although
he lived here in the 1970s and '80s. He has about 40 years of experience
as a director, technician and actor and has a diploma from the American
Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York City. Among his thespian ventures,
he has played the lead in The Music Man in Hilo and California, directed
The Matchmaker in Hilo, and both directed and acted in Absurd Person
Singular in Hilo.
The two principal actors are well known to Hilo audiences. For nearly
three decades, Gertz has acted and directed for UH-Hilo's theater program,
the Hilo Community Players, the Palace Theater, and for drama education
projects that have toured the island's schools. Loesch has been acting
since the mid-1980s in several theatre companies on Hawai'i Island,
including UH-Hilo, Hilo Community Players, Classical Productions, Inc.,
Pacific Comedy Theatre, and KHBC TV. He has also performed in plays,
television, and films in the Los Angeles and the Bay Area over the years.
Walker teaches health and guidance at Hilo High School and Tincher is
about to graduate from UH-Hilo with a performing arts degree.
Doubt: A Parable
Fridays 4/27 & 5/04 &
Saturdays 4/28 & 5/05 @ 7:30 p.m.
East Hawai'i Cultural Center
141 Kalakaua St.
Hilo
Tel: 935-9085
Tix: $12 advance / $15 door / $5 - students w/valid ID
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