College theater programs are sort of known for taking risks and staging works that force audiences to think — and often even argue — about the goings-on in front of them. Maybe that is because colleges are places of change and thought, where students can expand their views of the world through broad ranging classes and late-night discussions over coffee, beer or muddy bong water.



Or maybe it’s the simple fact that college theater programs don’t rely on ticket buyers to support their shows. Certainly, they would rather play to full houses than empty ones. But their light bill isn’t paid off by what audiences pay through the door. College theater programs have the artistic liberty to stage works that their audiences really should see, not what audiences think they want to see.



Such is the case for South Puget Sound Community College.



“I think this is the perfect play, and I knew I had the actors do stage it,” director Don Welch says.



The theater is staging “Doubt,” a dramatic work by John Patrick Shanley. The show was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Drama and the Drama Desk Award as well as a Tony Award for Best Play.



The show is set in a Catholic church in the Bronx, N.Y., in the mid 1960s. “Doubt” portrays a strong-minded nun’s struggles with conscience and uncertainty about herself, her gut instincts and justice. At issue is her belief that a priest has molested a boy in his care. Sister Aloysius confronts Father Flynn over the nature of his relationship with the boy. When he denies her charges, the stage is set for an intense look at issues of religion, morality and authority.



Don’t expect this show to be ripped from the headlines of today’s sex scandals surrounding Catholic priests in Spokane, Seattle, San Francisco, and Boston. The show is much deeper than that. It centers on the very essence of belief.



Each side has supporters as the two sides exchange charges and counter charges. Audiences can’t help but take sides, but there is no proof to either implicate or exonerate the priest.



The truth is never revealed during the show, making it one of the key points of the play.

“Certainty is an emotion not a fact,” Welch says. “I want audiences to be able to walk away with the idea that no matter how certain they are about something that without proof there will always be doubt.”



The one-act show spans about 90 minutes and forces audiences to not only have doubt about their own conclusions about the show but about their own thoughts on their core issues — that there are few things in life that are absolutes.



That is the way Welch directs the show. He directs it from his own perspective on the priest’s guilt or innocence while he allows the actors to craft their characters from their perspectives, so there are conflicts and resolutions as the play unfolds.



“Doubt” runs at South Puget Sound Community College Sept. 13-30; 8 p.m. Thursday-Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday; pay what you can Sept. 13, 20 and 27; Kenneth J. Minnaert Center for the Arts, 2011 Mottman Rd. S.W., Olympia; $5-$15; 360.596.5501, www.spscc.ctc.edu.

Cousin Eddie on stage

Academy Award-nominee Randy Quaid stars in a foot-stomping show set for the fast track to the Great White Way. The Broadway-bound musical comedy “Lone State Love” was inspired by William Shakespeare’s “The Merry Wives of Windsor” as the story of love and friendship takes on a Wild West bent.



Quaid is Confederate “Colonel” John Falstaff, who works his charms on the wives of two wealthy cattle ranchers while keeping an eye on their husbands’ land and money. Featured on stage are Tony Award-winners The Red Clay Ramblers, whose eclectic repertory mixes Bluegrass, New Orleans, classical folk and gospel.



The show runs Sept. 8-30. Showtimes are 7:30 p.m. Tuesday-Wednesday, 8 p.m. Thursday-Friday, 2 and 8 p.m. Saturday, 1:30 and 7 p.m. Sunday; special student matinee 10 a.m. Sept. 26, $16, 888.625.1418; 5th Avenue Theatre, Seattle; $20-$77; 206.625.1900, www.5thavenue.org.