Doubt

I just came from watching the City of Fairfax Company Theatre production 'Doubt: A Parable' by playwright John Patrick Shanley and I should put in a word or two about the experience. 

Let me begin by saying that the staging couldn't have been simpler and more symbolic. Center stage was a pulpit from which Father Flynn, a Catholic priest, opened the play with a sermon on the certainty of doubt after censing the altar. One could say that the play revolves around the short but profound sermons preached by him. Fr. Flynn, the protagonist, is an outstanding preacher commanding the spoken word, getting his point across and making the Word accessible to his parishioners. Both his preaching and character are actually called into question by the antagonist, old school nun Sister Aloysius, who sits in judgement at a stark desk on the left of the stage reminding us everything that is ugly about the church and false about the Gospel. There, at a desk on the left, in the sheer placement itself, we find a simple yet powerful symbol of displeasure and lack of favor before God and men. Sister Aloysius rightly belongs in it.

The contrast between Fr. Flynn's compassion and accessibility and Sister Aloysious' legalistic fire and judgemental brimstone bring the play to such a climactic tension that hardly anyone in the audience found it hard to be repulsed by the travesty unfolding before our eyes.

Kudos to the actors who made us believe that what we were seeing was the truth indeed, in its glorious beauty but also in its wretched ugliness. The characters' portrayal was more than convincing, superb. The cast of four owned the stage. It's hard to pick a favorite character from Doubt, but if I had to pick one, it would have to be Fr. Flynn, played by Chris Andersen. Being a priest myself, you will forgive me for being partial to priests. However, what's not to like about Anna Fagan's Sister James? Hers was the character that grew the most from the get go. We saw her developing into her own skin, going from an easily manipulated weakling into a strong woman who confronts her twisted and sophisticated tormentor, Sister Aloysious. She shows that sometimes it's not easy to come to a place of certainty without help from others (Fr. Flynn). "And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

Doubt takes place in 1964, a year after the death of JFK. A lot is going on in the 60's, particularly the Civil Rights movement and the desegregation of schools. The play develops at a Catholic school in New York, St. Nicholas, that becomes desegregated by admitting its first black student, Donald Muller. So yes, the play must deal with the racial tension of the times. Donald's mom, Ms. Muller, is masterfully played by Brenda Parker. It is the exchange between Ms. Muller and Sister Aloysious that brings us to the window of the soul (we've been peering through it from the beginning) letting us see how some in the human family are driven to compassion while others to vindictiveness. At this juncture in the play there are no middle grounds, one of them will win the day.

Doubt is an intelligent play with a ton of dialogue that packs a punch in the gut for its intensity and seriousness at times, and the sophistication of its humor at others. It's a very well-acted modern tale of the heart's continuous longing for absolute certainty and the cost of believing we can achieve it on our own.

Go see the play today on it's last showing at 2:00 pm. One thing will be certain, you won't have any regrets you did when its over.

 

From left to right, the great Kirsten Boyd from the City of Fairfax Theater Company, me,
and the talented cast members from Doubt: A Parable, Brenda Parker (Mrs. Muller)
and Chris Andersen (Fr. Flynn). #worthit #doubt #fairfaxcitytheater

*Review originally written on March 14, 2015.