Have you ever been falsely accused of something, or have you ever accused someone and wondered if you’re doing the right thing? These questions and many others are brought up in Doubt, the poignant play written by John Patrick Stanley, winner of the 2005 Pulitzer Prize.
In the preface to Stanley’s play he discusses the liberating quality of the unknown.
“When a man feels unsteady, when he falters, when hard-won knowledge evaporates before his eyes, he’s on the verge of growth. Doubt requires more courage than conviction does. We’ve got to learn to live with a full measure of uncertainty. Doubt is nothing less than an opportunity to re-enter the Present.”
John P. Kelly is currently directing an Ottawa production of Doubt.
“The author has very cleverly put this in 1964 . . . a time of enormous change,” Kelly said. “It was the year after Kennedy was shot, and died. It’s similar in feeling, I think, to 9-11.”
The four characters battle among themselves and their inner selves when there is doubt cast that a horrific act has been committed.
After Father Flynn delivers his sermon on “Doubt” to his Catholic parish, Sister Aloysius, a nun and principal of the school, questions what the priest is in doubt over. Soon after, Sister James, who teaches a class with the school’s first African-American student, Donald Muller, claims she witnessed a questionable circumstance with the priest and young boy. Immediately there is a triangle of suspicion and intrigue between Father Flynn and the Sisters, however, it is the Father and Sister Aloysius who truly go head-to-head in a battle for the truth. But at what price do we pay for certainty?
Pedophilia, church authority and racism are all brought forth. What facts do we ignore if we follow faith blindly? Or what falsehoods do we trust because we will not question them?
Although there is a film adaptation of the play (nominated for Oscars), the theatrical version concentrates on a different aspect of the story.
“Within the play . . . there is this question as to whether or not the priest is guilty of abusing a young boy,” Kelly said. “But it’s not what the play is about. [The] play is about four very serious, personal crises which all of the four characters face. All four of them make their decisions and grow and develop after those decisions.”
The play contains many raw, emotional and gripping scenes, in particular a confrontation between Sister Aloysius and Donald’s mother.
“I never see it in rehearsal without my hair standing on end because of what position and crisis [Mrs.Muller] finds herself in, with the first black boy in the school,” Kelly said. “And having to face the question of what to do about the suspicions, about how they affect her son . . . that is just a terrifying scene!”
Doubt will open what could be a controversial month-long run at the Gladstone Theatre on Feb. 22.
“I heard a story that when this play [opened] on Broadway,” Kelly said, “on several nights there were fist fights outside the theatre . . . in disagreement about the issues raised by the play.”