May 2010: Doubt, A Parable (Shanley)

Post date: May 20, 2010 7:16:32 PM

Thanks to Nancy for hosting our discussion of John Patrick Shanley's play Doubt, a Parable on May 19th.

We started off with a few musings on Rachel Maddow's recent commencement speaker address at Smith. Catherine had watched it on YouTube and thought her warning against personal triumph at the expense of public good was a great choice for a commencement address.( Jennie saw it in person since she was at reunion, so we're eager to get her report when she returns.) Nancy has a personal interest, since Rachel was a somewhat controversial speaker at her own high school graduation, when Nancy was principal there. Evidently the speakers were required to turn in their text for approval beforehand, which Rachel did, but then proceeded to give a completely different speech when the time came. Nancy was also wondering if she wore full academic robes or her more usual casual attire (robes, is the answer).

Moving on to the play and movie, we shared a lively discussion of the question "did he or didn't he?", the differences between reading the play and seeing the movie, and our impressions of the characters and plot turns. We also enjoyed Catherine's reading aloud of Shanley's preface to the script, which sheds interesting light on his thoughts and goals for the play. Most felt that watching the movie left less room for doubt than reading of the play, possibly because the nuances of glances and physical actions in the dramatic interpretation made a stronger impression than just the words on the page. All were impressed with Shanley's remarkable ability to set up expectations, then totally flip them around to show a different possibility. We also widened our discussion to various thoughts on the benefits of a shared community such as that provided by an organized religious community, and how it feels to be connected to the members of such a group, while not being in the group itself.