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Doubt: A Parable ~ Studio Theatre

Jordan Wright
September 12, 2019 

Doubt may be a parable, but it’s also a conundrum.  Playwright, John Patrick Shanley, does his best to keep us guessing if an unspeakable act was committed against a 14-year old student of St. Nicholas parochial school by a priest, or if it simply never happened.  Set in 1964 in the Bronx, New York, this moral drama leaves us in the dark as to who is the truth-teller, and who is stirring up trouble as a result of a vivid imagination.  Sister Aloysius Beauvier is the hard-hearted administrator and iron-fisted overlord at the middle school.  Plotting to accuse the priest, the aged nun tries to convince Sister James, a naïve novitiate that he is guilty.  This takes some doing since Sister James caring approach towards her students is antithetical to Sister Aloysius’s suspicious mind.

Sarah Marshall and Amelia Pedlow in Doubt: A Parable. Photo: Teresa Wood

Suspecting Father Flynn has committed a sexual crime involving the school’s first and only  African American student whom he has been mentoring, she cajoles Sister James into becoming her ally, convincing her that he is guilty of using his time with the boy to take advantage of him.

Shanley knows of what he writes as the setting and his experiences in a Catholic School inform his play.  He refers to it as “… a pathway to his real subject: America’s collective resistance to uncertainty.”  That manifestation of society’s doubt about certainty is evidenced in the play’s complex theme.  Shades of the Catholic Church’s sex abuse scandals color the plot, and even the viewer struggles to detect truth from fiction – subterfuge from innocence.

Christian Conn and Sarah Marshall in Doubt: A Parable. Photo: Teresa Wood

The 1960’s was a difficult time for the Catholic Church.  While nuns and priests were leaving in droves, the Church aimed to right itself by declaring a kinder, more liberal approach to both its teachings and its services.  Yet, in this seesaw of emotions and intense pressure to change, Shanley aims to throw us back on our heels with the accusations hurled against Father Flynn, keeping us in the dark as to who is being truthful and who might be bent on the destruction of three lives – the boy, Flynn and Sister James.  “The most innocent acts can seem sinister to a poisoned mind,” Father Flynn warns Sister Aloysius.

Scenes toggle between Father Flynn’s sermons to the congregants, mirroring in metaphors his ongoing crisis with Sister Aloysius, and provocative confrontations in her office where she eventually interviews the boy’s mother, Mrs. Muller, played memorably by Tiffany M. Thompson.  Of particular note is Flynn’s sermon on the parable of feathers whose wind-borne dispersal is likened to the dangerous spreading of vicious gossip.

Sarah Marshall and Tiffany M. Thompson in Doubt: A Parable. Photo: Teresa Wood.

As an audience we hope that Flynn’s kindness and Sister James’ support win out.  Yet, Shanley forces us to wonder if the old curmudgeon could be onto something.  Don’t expect to come away with an easy or satisfying resolution.  The surprise ending will have you reevaluating everything you thought you knew about the truth.

Sarah Marshall and Christian Conn in Doubt: A Parable. Photo: Teresa Wood.

Starring Sarah Marshall as Sister Aloysius Beauvier, Christian Conn as Father Brendan Flynn and Amelia Pedlow as Sister James.

Directed by Matt Torney with Set Design by Daniel Conway, Costume Design by Wade Laboissonniere, Lighting Design by Dawn Chiang, and Sound Design by Victoria Deiorio.

Through October 6th at Studio Theatre, 1501 14th Street, Washington, DC 20005.  For tickets and information visit www.StudioTheatre.org or call 202.232.3300.

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