A peça Doubt, a Parable (2004) de John Patrick Shanley revisita o mundo que ele conheceu quando criança – o bairro do Bronx dos anos 1960. A história se desenrola em uma comunidade escolar católica ítalo-irlandesa e o enredo diz respeito a uma dúvida – que se transforma em crença – por parte de uma das personagens, Irmã Aloysius, a diretora da escola. Ela acredita que o Padre Flynn esteja molestando sexualmente o único aluno negro da escola. A peça é uma construção em aberto, que permite a cada leitor/espectador construir sua própria interpretação dos fatos. Além de ser o autor da peça, Shanley também transformou seu texto teatral em roteiro para o cinema, e atuou como produtor da peça e roteirista e diretor do filme Dúvida, de 2008. Nesta dissertação examino as estratégias utilizadas por Shanley para manter a possibilidade de interpretação aberta quando ele traduz sua obra para mídias diferentes – na página, no palco, no cinema. Ao empreender tal análise, considero pertinente explorar padrões contemporâneos sobre questões como verdade, dúvida e certeza, porque as mesmas encontram-se imbricadas com o construto artístico examinado, favorecendo assim um olhar atento sobre o papel do autor e do leitor nesse processo. Para investigar as construções ideológicas que definem os elementos de dúvida e certeza, utilizo o conceito de Paradoxo do Imaginário, como proposto por Castor Bartolomé Ruiz (2003), dando especial atenção às questões relacionadas com o simbolismo da dúvida, tal como pode ser percebido na obra de Shanley. / John Patrick Shanley’s play Doubt - a Parable (2004) revisits the world he knew as a child, which is the Bronx of the 1960’s. The story centers upon a Catholic Irish-Italian school community, and the plot relates to a doubt - that grows into belief, and ends up as certainty - on the part of Sister Aloysius, the principal of the school, who is persuaded that Father Flynn, the vicar, has been harassing the only Black student in the school. The play is an open-ended construct, allowing each reader/spectator to build their own interpretation of the facts implied. Shanley is more than the author of the play. He has also worked as the producer of the play on the stage and he turned the story into a movie screenplay, Doubt, and has worked as a director to the movie. In this thesis I examine the strategies used by Shanley to keep the possibility of interpretation open as he translates his own work into different media, on the page, on the stage and on the screen. As I do that, I also consider the contemporary standards regarding issues as truth, doubt, certainty, especially as they constitute themselves aesthetically in the fictional world, thus reexamining the role of the author and the role of the reader in the process. So as to investigate the ideological constructions that define the elements of doubt and certainty I refer to the concept of “paradoxes of the imaginary” as proposed by Castor Bartolomé Ruiz (2003), with special attention to questions concerning the symbolism of doubt as perceived in Shanley.

A peça Doubt, a Parable (2004) de John Patrick Shanley revisita o mundo que ele conheceu quando criança – o bairro do Bronx dos anos 1960. A história se desenrola em uma comunidade escolar católica ítalo-irlandesa e o enredo diz respeito a uma dúvida – que se transforma em crença – por parte de uma das personagens, Irmã Aloysius, a diretora da escola. Ela acredita que o Padre Flynn esteja molestando sexualmente o único aluno negro da escola. A peça é uma construção em aberto, que permite a cada leitor/espectador construir sua própria interpretação dos fatos. Além de ser o autor da peça, Shanley também transformou seu texto teatral em roteiro para o cinema, e atuou como produtor da peça e roteirista e diretor do filme Dúvida, de 2008. Nesta dissertação examino as estratégias utilizadas por Shanley para manter a possibilidade de interpretação aberta quando ele traduz sua obra para mídias diferentes – na página, no palco, no cinema. Ao empreender tal análise, considero pertinente explorar padrões contemporâneos sobre questões como verdade, dúvida e certeza, porque as mesmas encontram-se imbricadas com o construto artístico examinado, favorecendo assim um olhar atento sobre o papel do autor e do leitor nesse processo. Para investigar as construções ideológicas que definem os elementos de dúvida e certeza, utilizo o conceito de Paradoxo do Imaginário, como proposto por Castor Bartolomé Ruiz (2003), dando especial atenção às questões relacionadas com o simbolismo da dúvida, tal como pode ser percebido na obra de Shanley. / John Patrick Shanley’s play Doubt - a Parable (2004) revisits the world he knew as a child, which is the Bronx of the 1960’s. The story centers upon a Catholic Irish-Italian school community, and the plot relates to a doubt - that grows into belief, and ends up as certainty - on the part of Sister Aloysius, the principal of the school, who is persuaded that Father Flynn, the vicar, has been harassing the only Black student in the school. The play is an open-ended construct, allowing each reader/spectator to build their own interpretation of the facts implied. Shanley is more than the author of the play. He has also worked as the producer of the play on the stage and he turned the story into a movie screenplay, Doubt, and has worked as a director to the movie. In this thesis I examine the strategies used by Shanley to keep the possibility of interpretation open as he translates his own work into different media, on the page, on the stage and on the screen. As I do that, I also consider the contemporary standards regarding issues as truth, doubt, certainty, especially as they constitute themselves aesthetically in the fictional world, thus reexamining the role of the author and the role of the reader in the process. So as to investigate the ideological constructions that define the elements of doubt and certainty I refer to the concept of “paradoxes of the imaginary” as proposed by Castor Bartolomé Ruiz (2003), with special attention to questions concerning the symbolism of doubt as perceived in Shanley.

A peça Doubt, a Parable (2004) de John Patrick Shanley revisita o mundo que ele conheceu quando criança – o bairro do Bronx dos anos 1960. A história se desenrola em uma comunidade escolar católica ítalo-irlandesa e o enredo diz respeito a uma dúvida – que se transforma em crença – por parte de uma das personagens, Irmã Aloysius, a diretora da escola. Ela acredita que o Padre Flynn esteja molestando sexualmente o único aluno negro da escola. A peça é uma construção em aberto, que permite a cada leitor/espectador construir sua própria interpretação dos fatos. Além de ser o autor da peça, Shanley também transformou seu texto teatral em roteiro para o cinema, e atuou como produtor da peça e roteirista e diretor do filme Dúvida, de 2008. Nesta dissertação examino as estratégias utilizadas por Shanley para manter a possibilidade de interpretação aberta quando ele traduz sua obra para mídias diferentes – na página, no palco, no cinema. Ao empreender tal análise, considero pertinente explorar padrões contemporâneos sobre questões como verdade, dúvida e certeza, porque as mesmas encontram-se imbricadas com o construto artístico examinado, favorecendo assim um olhar atento sobre o papel do autor e do leitor nesse processo. Para investigar as construções ideológicas que definem os elementos de dúvida e certeza, utilizo o conceito de Paradoxo do Imaginário, como proposto por Castor Bartolomé Ruiz (2003), dando especial atenção às questões relacionadas com o simbolismo da dúvida, tal como pode ser percebido na obra de Shanley. / John Patrick Shanley’s play Doubt - a Parable (2004) revisits the world he knew as a child, which is the Bronx of the 1960’s. The story centers upon a Catholic Irish-Italian school community, and the plot relates to a doubt - that grows into belief, and ends up as certainty - on the part of Sister Aloysius, the principal of the school, who is persuaded that Father Flynn, the vicar, has been harassing the only Black student in the school. The play is an open-ended construct, allowing each reader/spectator to build their own interpretation of the facts implied. Shanley is more than the author of the play. He has also worked as the producer of the play on the stage and he turned the story into a movie screenplay, Doubt, and has worked as a director to the movie. In this thesis I examine the strategies used by Shanley to keep the possibility of interpretation open as he translates his own work into different media, on the page, on the stage and on the screen. As I do that, I also consider the contemporary standards regarding issues as truth, doubt, certainty, especially as they constitute themselves aesthetically in the fictional world, thus reexamining the role of the author and the role of the reader in the process. So as to investigate the ideological constructions that define the elements of doubt and certainty I refer to the concept of “paradoxes of the imaginary” as proposed by Castor Bartolomé Ruiz (2003), with special attention to questions concerning the symbolism of doubt as perceived in Shanley.

In classrooms and textbooks the “Director's Vision” is often identified as the unifying concept for the production, and my goal in returning to graduate school was to explore my own vision as a director. In my own practice as a director, I tend to “hear” the play in my head before visualizing it. From my interpretation of the text, to the staging of the performers, to my collaboration with design team, my approach to the production of theatre stems from a place of musicality. Seeking a Vision, Finding a Voice explores my creative journey as multi-disciplinary theatre artist through a series of case studies detailing my practice as a Director/ Sound Designer. It examines my evolving process, which often utilizes audio collage to shape the dramatic arc of a piece or scene, experiments with using music to inform character, emotion, and movement, and values the impulses of the cast and creative team as important collaborative resources. By detailing my process on three productions (as Director/ Sound Designer of the University of Central Florida's Theatre for Young Audience's Tour, Emily Freeman's And Then Came Tango, as the Assistant Director/ Dramaturg/ Sound Designer for UCF's production of Paula Vogel's The Baltimore Waltz, and as the Director/ Sound Designer of John Patrick Shanley's Doubt: A Parable, for Titusville Playhouse, Inc.), my process as director/designer is critically analyzed and reflected upon. Through my analysis, I explore the benefits and challenges of being a Director-who-Designs and a Designer-who-Directs, utilizing aural dramaturgy, collaboration, rhythm and emotion as essential tools in practicing theatre production. Seeking a Vision, Finding a Voice reflects on my practice through the lens of David Roesner's Musicality as a Paradigm for the Theatre: A Kind of Manifesto, analyzing the ways in which the 'notion of musicality' was exemplified in the preparation, performance, and perception of my work. This thesis examines the benefits and challenges of multidisciplinary artistry, pondering the merits and pitfalls of taking on multiple roles in each of my processes. It further explores the impact applying musicality to theatre practice can have on both actors and audiences and cherishes sound design as a valuable tool capable of enriching theatrical storytelling.