Directed by longtime Rockwell Group collaborator Scott Ellis, Doubt: A Parable stars Liev Schreiber and Amy Ryan. This Broadway revival of the 2004 play by John Patrick Shanley won the 2005 Tony Award for Best Play and Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Inspired by the subtle philosophical and moral questions at the heart of the show, Rockwell Group took a fragmented—though naturalistic—approach to the set.
The action takes place at the St. Nicholas Church School, a grammar school in the Bronx of 1964.
As audience members take their seats, they are greeted by a black stage framed by a black show portal.
The windows fly out as Father Flynn, the beloved progressive parish priest, is seen giving a short sermon in front of a large stained glass church window.
Throughout the show, windows serve as moments of transition; through them, the audience is able to see the connection between scenes.
Simple wood furniture and bookshelves are surrounded by framed photographs of the nuns and Sister Elizabeth Seton, the founder of the Sisters of Charity.
Principal's Office
The principal’s office suggests a previous era in its furnishings—appropriate for an institution that wouldn’t have updated its interiors for the times. Salmon-colored walls, dark wood details, and green and white floor tiles evoke the muted warmth of a well-worn office.
The windows in the Church Garden set provide the audience with a view into the principal's office, further emphasizing the role of windows as instruments of transition.
Church Garden
The principal's office rotates to reveal the aged stone facade of the Church Garden; an additional garden wall and bench track on.