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Doubt
John Patrick Shanley
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Published: Jan 01, 2005
Category:
Beyond Classification
Doubt
by John Patrick Shanley
When Butler was still in his prime and fame was but a breath away, he attended a dinner party given by a star whose name you absolutely know. Nine others at that round table were just as celebrated. Only the then-Mrs. B and Butler were second-tier.
Between courses, our hostess proposed a game — we would describe ourselves in a single word. Out came the thunderous adjectives. “Triumphant.” “Unstoppable.” “Fierce.” “Indomitable.” At long last Butler offered up his descriptor: “Ambivalent.”
Explains a lot, don’t you think?
Butler recalled that moment again and again as he made his rare appearance in a New York theatre last night. The play was “Doubt,” by John Patrick Shanley (who’s best known for his screenplay of “Moonstruck”), and its subject, of course, is certainty.
Certainty is all the rage these days. The President is certain, and so, they say, is everyone who works for him. Because every action produces an equal and opposite reaction, the people who oppose the President are equally certain. And if you make the mistake of watching cable television, you’ll find that every pundit knows absolutely everything about everything — and has an opinion that admits to no uncertainty.
“What do you do when you’re not sure?” asks Father Flynn (Brian F. O’Byrne), in the sermon that is the first scene of Shanley’s play. “What do you do when you ask God, ‘Help me’ — and no answer comes?”
The solution, he suggests, is to make your peace with doubt: “It can be a bond as powerful and sustaining as certainty. When you are lost, you are not alone.”
Nice sermon. But now we meet Sister Aloysius (Cherry Jones), head of the parish school. Certainty is her DNA — she knows all the facts and what they mean. And, Lord, does she have opinions. “Penmanship is dying all across the country” because no one bothers to use a fountain pen. Franklin D. Roosevelt, a good President, should not have “stacked the Court.” Girls who wear lipstick in the Christmas pageant are incipient sluts. You just know that Sister Aloysius wishes Mass were still conducted in Latin.
Sister James (Heather Goldenhersh) is a new teacher in this Bronx school. She’s easily unhinged by her superior. And, flustered, she blurts out that one of her eighth graders — a new boy, and, in l964, the school’s only black student — may have been compromised by Father Flynn.
Hierarchy prevails here; the priest outranks the nun. So how can Sister Aloysius learn if the terrible deed has been done? She can’t really investigate. She can only confront.
Did he, or did he not? That is the question Shanley explores in this witty, blunt, beautifully acted play. Ninety minutes long. Just one act. But long before it’s over, we know a great deal about each of these characters. (There’s a fourth, the mother of the black student.)
And what do we learn? I can’t spoil it for you by rolling out The Facts, because you walk out of the theatre thinking a couple of things (at least). And along the way, you’re convinced by whomever last spoke. Let’s just say it’s not simple. But then, as Father Flynn notes, “Truth makes for a bad sermon — it tends to be confusing and have no clear conclusion.”
Is Sister Aloyius evil? Or is she Courage Personified? Father Flynn: molester? Or just a priest who reached out a compassionate hand? And Sister James: What does she finally believe?
If you’ll be in New York and want a great night at the theatre, you might do well to skip the revival of “The Mickey Mouse Club” or “Rags the Singing Dog” or whatever they call the fare that passes for live drama on Broadway. This is the one you want. But if you go, a favor, please — when you get home, write me and tell me what you think. Because Mr. Ambivalent has his doubts.
To order tickets for "Doubt", click here.
