John Patrick Shanley’s 2004 original production of Doubt a parable came two years after the Boston Globe’s 2002 investigation into the Catholic Church and sexual abuse of children. Decades on, Shanley’s play is as relevant as it was when first produced and when adapted to screen, as our trust in once-revered establishments continues to wane in public opinion.
Parables, told over the millennia, tell real human lessons in short, succinct stories. Employed often by priests, they seek to provide a morality compass to the decisions we make. It is those tangible parables which build trust. So when Father Flynn (Ben Daniels) starts off the play, focusing on the community’s doubt following John F Kennedy’s assassination in 1963, the audience’s viewpoint is immediately enshrouded by doubt.
In Doubt a parable, headteacher of St Nicholas School Sister Aloysius (Maxine Peake) becomes suspicious of the priest’s intentions. She recruits a young, budding eighth grade teacher in Sister James (Holly Godliman) to watch her students closely and investigate any suspicious behaviour from Father Flynn.
Daniels embodies the cool priest vibes, a church man who can also have a conversation about basketball. It is a character we’ve all become familiar with over the past two decades. But his switch to a controlling, menacing pastoral role is terrifying. Daniel’s sermons, which pepper the play, are particularly engaging with his attuned Bronx accent piercing through.
Opposite Daniels, Peake commands every moment on stage with a desire to do it her way as Sister Aloysius—a fully rounded performance made all the more real by her trembling strength.
It is a play that puts all its chips on the final act, betting that the build sufficiently pays off. Director Lindsay Posner accomplishes that feat, setting up a dramatic conclusion in which Flynn and Aloysius face off in a tantalising battle of truth and doubt.
Godliman delivers a mightily impressive professional debut as the green, naïve teacher stuck between two senior colleagues, with Rachel John’s cameo as Mrs Muller grounding the play and adding a further dimension to what is good and what is bad.
The Ustinov once again succeeds in its greatest strength in providing an intimate play grounded in tension in a theatre that is at its best with plays like these. When it’s good here, it’s really good.