Theater Review: DOUBT: A PARABLE (New Village Arts Center in Carlsbad Village)

John Patrick Shanley‘s drama Doubt: A Parable opened in New York City in 2004 and won the Pulitzer Prize for drama in 2005. As evidenced by New Village Arts‘ production, which opened at the Conrad Prebys Theatre last weekend, twenty years after its premiere it still ranks among the most stirring and discuss-able American plays of this century, strong but justified praise for a show with only four characters that runs barely 90 minutes with no intermission.

AJ Knox

Doubt takes place in a Catholic boy’s school in the Bronx in 1964. Sister Aloysius, the school principal, suspects that Father Brendan Flynn, a personable middle-aged teacher at the school, has been sexually involved with an 8th-grade student and confronts the priest with her suspicions. Father Flynn angrily denies the accusation, noting the sister has no proof. just a strong conviction.

 Sherrell Tyler and Kym Pappas

On the surface Doubt is a “who do you believe” story. Are Sister Aloisius’s suspicions valid? Did the priest sexually interfere with a vulnerable young student (the boy is the only black student in the school)? Or is Father Flynn being persecuted by the principal for unclear motives?

 Juliana Scheding and Kym Pappas

Sister James, a young and impressionable teacher at the school, sides with the priest. attracted perhaps by the man’s charm. The fourth character is the young black student’s mother. She doesn’t care who is right and who is wrong between the sister and the priest. She just wants her boy to graduate out of the school’s toxic racist environment to pursue a quality education that would give him a decent chance in life.

Kym Pappas

Doubt is the kind of challenging play that invites audience members to gather in a coffee house after the show to explore and argue the multi layers of meaning served up by Shanley’s absorbing and suggestive narrative. The top issue is the matter of trust. Who can we trust to be telling the truth, the rigid and humorless Sister Aloysius or the outgoing and articulate Father Flynn? That suggests that one of the two is dishonest. Yet both come across as credible.

AJ Knox and Juliana Scheding

Shanley doesn’t take sides, so the onlooker has to sift through the ambiguity and uncertainty injected by the contrasting arguments. Father Flynn is the more sympathetic figure but Sister Aloysius expresses herself with a no-nonsense piety that is impressive and persuasive. Viewers are invited to take their pick, with no assurance that they have judged correctly. In the final scene, the two go at each other with a desperate conviction that nails the audience to their seats. The play ends on a final and sudden emotional note that clarifies nothing for the audience.

Sherrell Tyler

The four performers serve the play handsomely. AJ Knox is the model of a modern progressive priest, outgoing and accessible. Kym Pappas is equally believable on the other side of the religious coin, unequivocal and intimidating in her dedication to her faith. Juliana Scheding is fine as the young sister who admires Father Flynn and cowers, confused and unhappy, as she faces the tight-lipped disapproval of the principal for siding with the priest. Sherrell M. Tyler is persuasive as the mother who just wants the school to allow her son to graduate to a more tolerant school.

AJ Knox

Kristianne Kurner gets the highest marks for her skill in weaving this fascinating tale with fair play to all the contrasting points of view expressed with such fervor. The production profits enormously from Christopher Scott Murillo‘s evocative setting, dividing the stage into three realistic playing areas–an elevated church pulpit, the principal’s office, and a chapel. Kevane La’Marr Coleman‘s period costumes, Shelby Thach‘s lighting, and Marcus Rico‘s sound provide flawless visual and audio support.

photos by Jason Sullivan