‘Doubt’ revival: Riveting despite flaws

‘DOUBT: A PARABLE’: Liev Schreiber & Zoe Kazan. Photo: Joan Marcus

DOUBT: A PARABLE
Written by John Patrick Shanley
Directed by Scott Ellis
Through April 21, 2024
Todd Haines Theatre
227 West 42nd Street
(212-719-1300), www.roundabouttheatre.org

By David NouNou

To date, John Patrick Shanley’s 2005 Pulitzer Prize Award-winning play Doubt: A Parable is still one of the finest and most concise dramas ever written. At 90 minutes, it gives us an account of a nun, a priest and an accusation—and it is riveting.

Set in 1964 at St. Nicholas, a Catholic church and school in the Bronx, NY, it starts with Father Brendan Flynn (Liev Schreiber) giving us a sermon about a shipwrecked sailor lost at sea for days, having doubts in the direction where he is drifting. Sister Aloysius Beauvier (Amy Ryan) has doubts about anything decent in life, especially Father Flynn’s benevolence. Sister James (Zoe Kazan) not only is the assistant to Sister Aloysius but also plays the eyes and ears—and is in doubt about everything she enjoys in life being sucked out of her by the demanding Sister Aloysius. The last character is Mrs. Malloy (Quincy Tyler Bernsteine), the mother of the only Black boy at St. Nicholas who is befriended by Father Flynn.

In its original production, Doubt was brilliantly staged by Doug Hughes and performed in the highest caliber by Cherry Jones as Sister Aloysius and Bryan F. O’Byrne as Father Flynn. That production had shadings that kept you shifting allegiances. With the exception of Mr. Schreiber, this is an uneven production.

Actors are supposed to bring in their own interpretations to any role and should never try to replicate anyone else’s performance. However, the actor also has to bring shadings to extreme characters especially when they are hell bent on destruction. Amy Ryan, a very capable actress, was a last-minute replacement for Tyne Daly. She is diminutive in stature as compared to the imposing, larger-than-life Mr. Schreiber. Her portrayal of Sister Aloysius is evil incarnate. There is no wiggle room in her performance to give her some space to make her more objective or try to see her viewpoint of what she perceives to be the duty of a headstrong principal of the school. She just sucks out any joy from any life force.

This is where Mr. Schreiber’s charm, charisma and stage presence comes in and brings much needed oxygen back to the stage. Whether there is any proof that he has any guilt on the 12-year-old Black boy by supplying him with altar wine or doing anything inappropriate is unevenly balanced because of the nature of the two antagonists.

Zoe Kazan gives a touching, tortured, conflicted performance as young Sister James who has been so burned by the elder sister. Quincy Tyler Bernstine has a beautiful turn as the mother of the boy who just wants her son to pass the semester so he can go to a good school. Her scene with Sister Aloysius is genuinely touching and she wants nothing to do with her personal vendetta scheming.

In the end it falls on Scott Ellis’ unbalanced direction which has Ms. Ryan floundering when she cries; she has doubts about everything. You feel nothing for her because she instigated the events not from any facts but pure evil, so there is no shifting of allegiance or compassion from one character to the other.

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published March 15, 2024
Reviewed at March 14, 2024 press performance.

‘DOUBT: A PARABLE’: Amy Ryan & Zoe Kazan. Photo: Joan Marcus.

‘DOUBT: A PARABLE’: Amy Ryan & Quincy Tyler Bernstine. Photo: Joan Mrcus.

‘DOUBT: A PARABLE’: Liev Schreiber & Amy Ryan. Photo: Joan Marcus.