Play Suggestions: Doubt

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Doubt

Printed From: Community Theater Green Room
Category: Producing Theater
Forum Name: Play Suggestions
Forum Discription: Need help finding a show that's right for your theater? Ask here.
URL: http://www.communitytheater.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=4856
Printed Date: 11/04/25 at 8:24am
Software Version: Web Wiz Forums 8.05 - http://www.webwizforums.com

Topic: Doubt

Posted By: MLTED
Subject: Doubt
Date Posted: 11/02/10 at 2:33pm

How long does this play generally run? It seems to be such a short script - 49 pages. Our play selection committee loves this script, but has concerns regarding length of play.

Also - would like to have audience feedback from those who have produced. Some, on our play selection, question how a large Catholic community might accept this show and that content might be too controversial for our small "bible belt" community.

Also - wondered if perhaps a post-show audience discussion with some local Catholic representative might kill both birds (above) with one stone.

Replies:

Posted By: jayzehr
Date Posted: 11/03/10 at 6:57am

I'd say go for it. We did it a couple of years ago and had good response in a religiously conservative community. I can't remember how long it ran but that was not an issue. The local priest came to see the show as did other religious leaders and we had an article in the religion section of the paper. It's not as controversial as you might think. There are no language issues and it's not really anti-Catholic when you get down to it.

Posted By: tristanrobin
Date Posted: 11/03/10 at 11:44am

This might have been a problem a few years ago - but this play has been made into a multi-academy-award-nominated film. It's famous - and, for some reason, fame often washes away the controversy from a play. Probably most of your audience has already seen the movie anyway (even though the play ends differently).

It runs average play time - about 90 minutes. I'm not sure, but I think our production was performed without an intermission.

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http://tristanrobin.blogspot.com

Posted By: edh915
Date Posted: 11/04/10 at 10:21am

Doubt runs about 90 minutes.

A good rule of thumb to remember with play scripts is that one page usually equals about two minutes. (This does not apply to musicals)

As for "acceptance" of the play, if you do it right it will satisfy everyone - and by "right" I mean leaving the audience with a strong doubt in their own minds as to whether or not the priest was guilty. That is the key to getting the show right. The actress playing the nun has to play the role as though she is certain that the priest is guilty. The tricky part is that the actor playing the priest has to take it on firmly convinced that his character is absolutely innocent, and play it that way to the hilt. Then your production will be unbeatable.

Posted By: jayzehr
Date Posted: 11/09/10 at 4:06pm

Originally posted by edh915

The tricky part is that the actor playing the priest has to take it on firmly convinced that his character is absolutely innocent, and play it that way to the hilt. Then your production will be unbeatable.

I played that part two years ago and you're right. That scene with the confrontation with the nun was tough to play that way because there are a few lines that taken at face value make the priest look guilty. For starters I think you need to have a specific idea in your mind about what actually happened in the priest's previous post. I don't know that I did that successfully.

Posted By: edh915
Date Posted: 11/09/10 at 5:02pm

I just played it as though the priest was "aware" of something going on at his last post (because it was common for the priests to hear each others' confessions), that he probably ran into another priest who was guilty, and that he most likely took care of it, and stopped it, by going through normal channels; but he was not able to discuss such things with the nun, and was therefore made to "seem" guilty, but not "be" guilty.