NEHALEM — When retired Hollywood actor George Dzundza presents community theater, he wants the audience to question what they have seen.

Dzundza, whose career included movies “The Deer Hunter” and “Basic Instinct,” posted his last screen credit in 2011. Eager to see Hollywood in his rear mirror, and familiar with Oregon from family connections and vacations, he retired to Tillamook County.

Since then, 78-year-old Dzundza has directed community shows in Tillamook and Noel Coward’s edgy farce “Present Laughter” at the Coaster Theatre in Cannon Beach. His latest energy is with Rising Tide Productions, a troupe he founded in northern Tillamook County in 2016 whose focus is small-cast controversial shows.

“We have decided as a group that we want to do plays that are socially relevant and somehow improve the human condition, and we wanted to tackle material that ordinarily amateur groups would shy away from,” he said.

Past productions have included the transgender memoir “I Am My Own Wife” and Edward Albee’s absurdist “Seascape,” whose scripts both earned Pulitzer Prizes, and “Doubt,” a Tony Award-winning play, later a 2008 movie with Meryl Streep.

“Last year, we did ‘Seascape’ by Albee, and the performances that came out, with some guidance, were so rewarding for me. In ‘Seascape,’ there was a performance by the main actress that was spellbinding in terms of depth and the capacity of it.

“The player in ‘I Am My Own Wife’ broke hearts left and right with his performance of that lady and in ‘Doubt’ we had performances that were absolutely 100% professional from anybody’s point of view.”

The last scene in “Doubt,” which sees a priest accused of abuse, intentionally has no verdict.

“The play was presented and it said, ‘Think about it — see how easy it is to label someone a pedophile, but at the same time you don’t really know. It could go either way. You decide as the audience.’”

He seeks a similar discussion from his latest show, “Agnes of God,” which opens at the North County Recreation District Performing Arts Center in Nehalem on Aug. 25 and runs three weekends.

The play, made into a movie with Jane Fonda and Anne Bancroft in 1985, displays conflict between a mother superior and a psychiatrist over a young nun’s unspeakable trauma. All three roles are played by Clatsop County actresses, Kenia Goodman — who appeared in “Seascape” — Cameron Lira and retired drama educator Susi Brown.

Dzundza is enjoying the lengthy rehearsal process.

“The difference between professional theater and amateur theater is so huge, because the amount of love in amateur theater is so many, many times more than in the professional theater that is so often filled with desire for money and fame and all sorts of things that ultimately don’t mean very much,” he said.

“These young ladies have come with their hearts full of love and effort and it is so rewarding to me to be a part of it and to watch them as they explore their discoveries — and to cheer for them as they go. It’s a joy for me.”