The Alley Theatre began its 2007-2008 season with John Patrick Shanley’s ingenious Pulitzer Prize – and Tony Award – winning play, Doubt. Brilliantly written and masterfully staged, the play kept audiences captivated throughout the entire show.
Set in 1964, Sister Aloysius (Elizabeth Heflin) is the principal of the Bronx, N.Y. St. Nicholas Catholic School. She and Sister James (Elizabeth Bunch), a young, timid teacher at the school, open the second scene with a conversation in the office. Sister Aloysius lectures Sister James on her teaching style, saying that she should be less up-close and personal with the children and more authoritarian.
Sister Aloysius also tells Sister James to be on the lookout for suspicious activity. Sister Aloysius hears a sermon by Father Flynn (Jeffrey Bean), which gives rise to her suspicion that he might be up to no good.
Suspicious activity has made Sister James worried that she may have actually found someone that she cannot trust.
This play keeps the audience going back and forth between doubting Sister Aloysius and Father Flynn. Audience members are left pondering the moral of the play as well as the ending long after they leave the theater.
Each character represents a different type of personality: Sister Aloysius is a controlling person who will do anything to protect her school. Father Flynn emphasizes forgiveness so much that it seems he may be hiding something. Sister James just wants peace; she wants to do her job and get along with everyone.
Toward the end of the play the audience may believe that they have everything figured out, but the story takes an unexpected turn with the last spoken statement. It is so ambiguous that it could be interpreted a number of ways. However, the ending statement is a brilliant moral dilemma that one doesn’t mind being caught within. It’s a real-life situation up close, and one feels enthralled and as though they have to make the decision about what happens to Father Flynn.
Father Flynn’s sermons are so powerful and full of love and forgiveness that it is hard not to side with him during the short scenes. However, Sister Aloysius is also very convincing as she cares about the children of her school and claims she has their best interests at heart, despite her cold and unfriendly demeanor. She understands that she must protect the children from any potential harm because it’s better to be safe than sorry.
So whose motives are pure? It’s impossible to decide. Maybe they both mean well or maybe they are both crooked. This mystery is part of the beauty of the play. One guarantee is that it will keep audiences intrigued and generate plenty of fascinating conversations with others who have seen it. It is well worth the price of admission and the 90 minutes spent engrossed by Shanley’s fabulous work of art.
