Excellent 'doubts' are sown in Vienna

 

From left, Gayle Nichols-Grimes as Sister Aloysius and Danielle Comer as Sister James in Vienna Theatre Company's Doubt: A Parable/Photo by Matthew Randall

From left, Danielle Comer as Sister James, Jacquel R. Tomlin as Mrs. Muller, Bruce Alan Rauscher as Father Flynn and  Gayle Nichols-Grimes as Sister Aloysius in Vienna Theatre Company's Doubt: A Parable/Photo by Matthew Randall

This is about a nasty nun on a tirade to get rid of a priest, all because of her suspicions.

With prescient timing, the Vienna Theatre Company presents Doubt: A Parable about the spoils of innuendo and rumor.  It doesn't take much to apply the message to the inhospitable environment in today's world.

One must ask: What role does doubt play in today's society?

"They look smug like they have a secret," says a nun, castigating even poor old Frosty the Snowman who can't escape the malicious net. 

From the beginning, Father Flynn (Bruce Alan Rauscher) delivers a convincing message from the pulpit, an introduction to serious matter.  

With her strong performance and from her first appearance on the stage, Gayle Nichols-Grimes as Sister Aloysius is immediately able to stir audience wrath.  We can only guess at her background and insecurities to want to take down a priest and create more madness in her world. 

Enter Sister Aloysius's weak sister, Sister James (Danielle Comer) who offers her doubts about actions of the father towards a student, the only black pupil at the parochial school where Sister Aloysius is principal. 

And here comes the student's mother,  Mrs. Muller (Jacquel R. Tomlin), another weakling, at least, at first.

Momentum builds as the story advances; battle lines are drawn. The roles call for each actor to gain force and they succeed, amidst powerful silences which increase the tension.

Who would you suppose is the victor at the end?  It's left to the audience to ponder its own doubts and insecurities.

More than once during the performance I was reminded of the Salem Witch Trials and suspicion in the late 17th century which killed 19 persons.

That a large attendance surrendered a beautiful Sunday afternoon for a darkened hall of serious theatre in Vienna was surprising and worth it.

Applause to Tom Epps (co-producer with Laura Fargotstein) and his lighting, always right on target to the second.

Beverley Benda's costumes are appropriate, mostly all in black (surprise!) save Mrs. Muller's lovely hat and lavender outfit which contrast like springtime flowers on this stage of unhappy people.

The nuns' caps brought to mind the Salem Witch Trials' costumery which may match contemporary Catholic costumery for the little I know.

Director Joanna Henry has the performers use their hands to wring, wither, grasp and point to emphasize their words, and they work!

Steve Ross and Helen Bard-Sobola have designed Sister Aloysius's office in harsh design and properties, a stark reminder of her unforgiving character. Her domicile counterbalances the pleasant garden which lies nearby and serves as a place of reflection.

The experience of live performance becomes more enjoyable with Alan Wray's sounds of an approaching storm, bells, and children laughing, in hallways, and in the gymnasium.

I look forward to a reversal of the play when the priest is the antagonist and the nun, the moral superior. Is it always the woman's fault? Beginning with the Garden of Evel (sic), the scripts are written that way. By men.

Other production staff members: Anna-Kathleen Camper, Lauren Markovich, Nick Friedlander, and Heather Plank, stage managers; hair and make-up, Kendel Taylor.

Doubt: A Parable is a 2004 play by John Patrick Shanley which won the 2005 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and the Tony Award for Best Play.  It won all five Drama Desk awards for which it was nominated. The play was adapted as a movie in 2008 and starred Meryl Streep and Philip Seymour Hoffman. It was nominated for several Academy Awards.

According to the program: "The Vienna Theatre Company has been inspired by recent events to intensify our efforts to be a vibrant diverse company dedicated to fine entertainment."

Special free Post-Show Talk Back this Saturday following the Nov. 5 show!  9:30 - 10:15 p.m. with the director and actors.

Language: All "G" at the church!

Audience: For mature children and adults

What: Doubt: A Parable

When: Friday and Saturday nights, at 8 p.m., Nov. 4 and 5, 2022; Sunday matinee, 2 p.m., Nov. 6, 2022,

Where: Vienna Theatre Company, Vienna Community Center, 120 Cherry St., SE, Vienna, VA 22180

Tickets: Online at Vienna, VA – WebTrac Ticket Search (myvscloud.com) or in person at the Vienna Community Center during open hours or before each performance, if available. $15.

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Ships from the Dutch Golden Age at the National Gallery of Art

Willem Van De Velde the Younger, 1633-1707, The Dutch Fleet Assembling Before the Four Days' Battle of 11-14 June 1666, 1670, on loan from Moveo Art Collection. This depicts the Dutch ships, the Liefde (Love) on the left and the Gouden Leeuwen (Golden Lions) on the right, as they sailed on the North Sea to wage war on the British during the Second Anglo-Dutch War (1665-1667). Although the Liefde sank during the engagement, the Dutch won the battle, the longest and largest ship fight between the two nations.

 

Above is one of the 17th century ship models in the exhibition at the National Gallery of Art, Water, Wind, and Waves: Marine Paintings from the Dutch Golden Age. This model is on loan from the Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, Massachusetts. The artist is unknown. Iceboards attached to the sides helped stabilize the ship, especially in shallower waters, indicating this yacht was intended to stay closer to shore rather than venturing out to higher seas, according to the label copy/Photo by Patricia Leslie
 
Water, Wind, and Waves: Marine Paintings from the Dutch Golden Age at the National Gallery of Art came down last Sunday,  but here, you may read about it and see some of the 50 odd pieces in the exhibition which included ship models, paintings, prints, and drawings portrayed by artists from the 17th century and the Dutch Golden Age.

Then the Dutch stood at their height of realm and rule, the most prosperous nation in Europe, emboldened by their mighty seas and waterways which were used for commerce, battles, and pleasure,  and drawn by their artists.

Breaking from religious themes and styles, Dutch painters drew subjects from everyday scenes, people, landscapes, animals, flowers, still lifes, historical events, ships, and water. Rembrandt van Rijn was represented by six of his etchings and drawings.

Adam Van Breen, 1585-1640, Skating on the Frozen Amstel River, 1611, National Gallery of Art, Washington. Waterways were not only used for commerce but for pleasure, too. See the dancers on the ice shaking a leg after, perhaps, imbibing in some Amstel Light beer. At the bottom near the center to the right of the dignitary in red, is a lad carrying a stick over his shoulder to play kolf, a combination of golf and hockey. His red and black shirt identifies him as an orphan.

Hendrick Avercamp, 1585-1634, A Scene on the Ice, c. 1625. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Here you can see couples in love, couples, maybe out of love, a playful dog, a horse-drawn sleigh, and children playing the precursor of hockey, kolf.

Rembrandt van Rijn, 1606-1669, View over the Amstel from the Rampart, c. 1646-1650, National Gallery of Art, Washington

Rembrandt van Rijn, 1606-1669, The Bathers, 1651, National Gallery of Art, Washington

Abraham Blooteling, 1640-1690, Admiral Egbert Meesz Kortenaer, c. 1665. One of the most interesting in the show. The admiral lost his lower right arm and left eye in the First Anglo-Dutch war in 1652 in the Battle of Dungeness. He continued to serve his nation until his death in 1665 at the Battle of Lowestoft when the Dutch were defeated near the coast of Suffolk, England. Look at the confidence in his eyes and his strong grasp of the telescope or baton (what is it?) in his left hand, a force demanding reckoning! He is buried at Rotterdam at the memorial (pictured below) which is engraved with a poem by Gerard Brandt.

By Josh at nl.wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org

The Hero of the Maas, bereft of eye 
 and his right hand
Yet of the Wheel the Eye, Fist of 
the Fatherland 
KORTENAER the Great, the terror 
of foe's fleets
the forcer of the Sound by this grave 
his country greets

Jan van Goyen, 1596-1656, Ice Scene near a Wooden Observation Tower, 1646, National Gallery of Art, Washington. See the horse-drawn sleigh on the ice on the left and men pushing carts. The tower provided a mark in the horizon to help sailors navigate waterways. During bad weather and at dusk, the tower was a lighthouse.  The time period is what is known as the "Little Ice Age."

Hendrick Cornelis Vroom, 1566-1640, A Fleet at Sea, c. 1614, private collection. The label copy said Vroom was the first Dutch painter to specialize in seascapes. He was a frequent sailor who survived a shipwreck and applied his experiences and observations to the canvas.

Cornelius Verbeeck, 1591-1637. A Naval Encounter between Dutch and Spanish Warships, c. 1618-1620, National Gallery of Art, Washington. For ten years these two works led separate lives  until technical analysis revealed they belonged together, according to label copy. A Spanish ship on the left fires cannons on the Dutch on the right. The Dutch ships were usually smaller and more easily navigated, especially by their skilled and experienced crew, testimony which can be seen below the Dutch vessel where a destroyed Spanish vessel is battered by waves.

Water, Wind, and Waves: Marine Paintings from the Dutch Golden Age at the National Gallery of Art, Washington/Photo by Patricia Leslie

The curator for the exhibition was Alexandra Libby, the assistant curator of northern Baroque paintings at the National Gallery.

What and when: The National Gallery of Art is open 10 a.m. - 5 p.m., Monday through Saturday, and 11 a.m. - 6 p.m., Sunday.

Where: The National Gallery of Art, between Third and Ninth streets at Constitution Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. On the Mall.

Admission charge: It's always free at the National Gallery of Art.

Metro stations for the National Gallery of Art:
Smithsonian, Federal Triangle, Navy Memorial-Archives or L'Enfant Plaza

For more information: 202-737-4215
 
patricialesli@gmail.com

Book review: 'The Columnist' by Donald A. Ritchie, highly recommended for journalism scholars

Who's the Drew Pearson now? I can think of no one who fits the bill.

Drew Pearson (1897-1969) was a muckraking journalist who helped send four members of the U. S. Congress to prison, had two U.S. senators censured and was not timid when it came to writing and broadcasting scandals, making a few mistakes along the way, but, hey! Who's perfect?

The Columnist: Leaks, Lies, and Libel in Drew Pearson's Washington is a must for journalism students and 20th century American history buffs who need or want another revealing look inside what makes Washington tick.

Mr. Pearson was a man who dug deep, who persisted, who was hated by most of the presidents he covered, including
President Harry S. Truman who threatened to shoot Mr. Pearson because of the columnist's criticism of Truman's daughter and wife. (Pearson predicted a Thomas Dewey win.)

Pearson was unafraid of lawsuits and was sued many times, losing only once.

The infamous Joseph McCarthy, feared by most, bore the wrath of Mr. Pearson's writings and broadcasts.
Pearson stood firm in his denunciation of McCarthy but Pearson had advantages most did not: He had a bully pulpit with his column, radio and TV broadcasts, comparing McCarthy's tactics to Salem's witch-burnings.

At Washington's fancy Sulgrave Club, the demagogic McCarthy physically attacked Pearson at a dinner party until stopped by none other than U.S. Senator Richard M. Nixon.

Some of Pearson's sponsors were intimidated by his attacks on McCarthy and dropped his radio broadcasts. His anti-McCarthy crusade
cost Pearson his friendship with the columnist Walter Winchell whom Pearson labeled a "McCarthy cheerleader."

Upon Pearson's death, Jack Anderson (1922-2005), a Pearson protégé and Pulitzer Prize winner, took over the column and renamed it, "Washington Merry-Go-Round. Although Wikipedia claims it's the longest-running column in American history, the most recent column I could find is dated July 15, 2021.

The book has a striking cover, is well researched, and its 367 pages include 90 of index, an extensive bibliography, and notes. The author, Donald A. Ritchie, is historian emeritus of the U.S. Senate.



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