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MeIt’s a tough time for sports in Australia, and forbidden music tours, the orchestra is shrinking and the high cost of production when the audience spends more carefully, the Sydney Theater Company is one of the few that has managed to send extras. Through a mixture of money and money, careful programs and a few hits – including Talented Mr Ripley and this year It’s the Iliad Written by David Wenham – the company is a stable port in today’s gaming storm, and nowhere is that stability more evident than in this new, straightforward release of Doubt: A Parable.
Written by John Patrick Shanley (Moonstruck), Suspense takes place entirely in a small Catholic school in the Bronx of New York in 1964, where the sharp headmistress Sister Aloysius (Pamela Rabe) maintains strict standards for students and teachers. When the vigilant Sister James (Shannen Alyce Quan) complains about Father Flynn’s (Sam Reid) secret meeting with a young boy in his class, Sister Aloysius – already suspicious of the modern and ordinary priest – immediately stops to take action. Mr. Flynn, however, maintains his innocence.
The student in question is the only Black student in their school; Sister Aloysius thinks this makes the boy a big target, while Mr. Flynn says he’s helping him a lot. Over the course of 90 minutes, the play twists and turns, escalating and blocking as the characters make accusations and defend their positions. There is no evidence to support or deny the claims. Only certainty and, of course, doubt.
The original production of Doubt in 2005 won four Tony Awards and won the 2005 Pulitzer Prize for drama. Based on the 2008 film (starring Meryl Streep, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Amy Adams and Viola Davis) nominated for five Academy Awards. These accolades have made Doubt modern and, with its small size and strong script, it promises effective performances on very thin ground. All you need is the right creative team and strong talent.
Here, Marion Potts, who has just returned to directing after a stint as head of Performing Lines, is at the helm. The design is crisp, merciless and fast-paced, sweeping Shanley’s dialogue with clarity and boldness. On the turning point of Bob Cousins, which circles from the office of Sister Aloysius to the fifth floor and back again – the statue of Our Lady of Grace is always in view – there is a cool look, all washed white and gray. Damien Cooper’s lighting sweeps through one window and traps the characters in its shadowy bars.
It can, however, be very fast. Shanley’s writings are full of vivid, poignant images and wry humor as well as words of faith and struggle, but they are most alive in the turbulent times of public discourse. This is where the actors can do the most profound and beautiful work – not only in the way they speak but in the way they feel about each other. However, for the most part, Potts’ production does not allow us to dwell on the problem that makes this play sing.
This is a shame, because it would encourage the good work that is being done on stage. Sam Reid, best known from ABC’s The Newsreader and his charismatic turn as Lestat in Anne Rice’s Interview and the Vampire TV series, is confident, charming and warm as Mr. Flynn. His struggles are played close to the chest, which earns him two gasps from the audience on opening night as his character begins to change. Likewise, Rabe is a formidable Aloysius, but his final moments feel out of touch with what’s to come. (What do we lose when we talk to each other?) We also quickly pass through another very high-profile and interesting scene: when Aloysius brings his concerns to the student’s mother (Zindzi Okenyo). Spending more time with the real, conflicting opinions that the two women put out would have helped the drama – and given more room for Okenyo to make a dramatic breakthrough.
Despite this, Suspicion still works, sometimes just showing its age. It’s still impressive and visually appealing, and the design is smart. And it gives you that feeling, being in the audience, that you can’t get from anywhere but live performances – the lights of real people build thoughts, moments and stories in real time, creating something completely special for everyone together in that room that night.
