Doubt: A Parable

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[avatar user=”Joel Benjamin” size=”96″ align=”left”] Joel Benjamin, Critic[/avatar]

Last burning the stage in 2005, John Patrick Shanley’s Doubt: A Parable” has returned in a superb revival at the Roundabout Theatre Company’s Todd Haimes Theatre (named for the Company’s recently deceased esteemed director).

The original production starred Cherry Jones as Sister Aloysius Beauvier, a hidebound, old-school Catholic who is absolutely positive that Father Brendan Flynn (Brian F. O’Byrne) has molested a young student at their parochial school.  Jones’ Aloysius was astonishingly set in her total belief in Father Flynn’s guilt, even though Shanley’s play provided absolutely no proof that any hanky-panky occurred.

In this Roundabout/Scott Ellis production, Amy Ryan’s Sister Aloysius (stepping in for the originally cast Tyne Daly) comes across as less absolute in her suspicions while Liev Schreiber’s Flynn is less wavering than was the more nervous O’Byrne.  Perhaps this is partly due to the fact that, unlike the original casting, Schreiber is physically more imposing than Ryan making her seem more like a small creature attempting to take down much larger prey.

The current production, brilliantly and realistically designed by David Rockwell and costumed by Linda Cho, has a more human feel than the original which, unfortunately, makes the play’s last scene less effective.  The war Sister Aloysius imposes on her church and school becomes more a battle of old against new and the lack of power of nuns versus the entitled males of the Catholic Church.

After Father Flynn delivers a sermon about dealing with insecurity, Sister Aloysius establishes in her very first scene her distaste for the new ways Father Flynn has changed her beloved school. In her conversation with one of her loyal teachers, the young Sister James (Zoe Kazan in a subtle take on the befuddled nun) she reveals her disgust with everything new, including ballpoint pens!

It is 1964 in an iffy neighborhood in the Bronx and St. Nicholas School is a less than fool-proof oasis of calm.  Twelve-year old Donald Muller is the school’s first Black student who receives special attention from Father Flynn, thus raising Sister Aolysius’ hackles.

Even though the sexual crimes of the clergy were not in the spotlight in 1964, Doubt premiered when such molestations were headline news, making for an odd time-travel feel which would have been more shocking if the play had actually premiered in 1964.

Donald Muller never appears, but his mother, Mrs. Muller (Quincy Tyler Bernstine, moving in her only scene) is grilled by Sister Aloysius, attempting to back up her suspicions of Father Flynn’s invidious sinful behavior.

Caught in the unwavering social order of the Catholic Church, Sister Aloysius fights for the acceptance of her suspicions in an ever-more frustrating battle.  Her scenes with Father Flynn display her impotence and her valor, however irrational her beliefs are.

Ryan’s Sister Aloysius is easier to identify with than Jones’.  Despite the total lack of incriminating facts, it is hard not to feel compassion for her.

Schreiber’s Father Flynn is an imposing figure both physically and vocally, unflinching in his liberal interpretation of the new age Catholic Church.

Both actors give this production of Doubt a fresh take helped by Ellis’ direction and a fine physical production, including the evocative lighting of Kenneth Posner and the sound design of Mikaal Sulaiman both of which placed the Church and School as a quiet, meditative place in the middle of a noisy city.

Doubt: A Parable (through April 21, 2024)

Roundabout Theatre Company

Todd Haimes Theatre, 227 West 42^nd Street, in Manhattan

For tickets, visit http://www.roundabouttheatre.org

Running time: 90 minutes without an intermission