The Hyperion Theatre’s latest endeavor, John Patrick Shanley’s Doubt: A Parable, opening today, Jan. 25, owns many accolades including the 2005 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and the Tony Award for Best Play.
Its story of suspicion by an “old school” nun of a young “next wave” priest’s activities with a boy student might be called a straight-from-the-headlines plot – and it seems to be. The fact that it is titled “a parable” takes some of that categorizing away however and as the tale plays out, the entire truth is buried in a lack of factual info, which raises doubt, of course, and leaves us with several morals to glean.
Morgan Morton as Sister James meets with Marie Beason as Sister Aloysius. (Photo by Rob Slaven / IndyGhostLight.com)
In the best of productions of this play, this conflict – with all the emotions that it raises – does not get resolution. It hangs in the air for discussion after the curtain falls. So it is with director Daniel Maloy’s product. All the boxes are checked on both sides of the debate, with a careful balance in mind.
Maloy’s top-level cast adroitly conveys the opposing ideals at work here. Marie Beason is powerful as the self-righteously assured Sister Aloysius, principal at St. Nicholas Church School. The sister values a more strict and unemotional approach to her job of educating children, rejecting the annoying changes that The Church hopes to put into practice. She is also frustrated, rightfully so, by the hierarchy she must face in her quest to correct what she feels is gross misconduct by an ignoble priest. Ms. Beason is beyond up to the task with a fully developed character, a wide range of expressiveness and a rising level of assurance which ultimately collapses under its own weight.
Joe Wagner handles Father Flynn’s situation with an uncomplicated mix of confidence and suffering. Flynn is accused of a heinous act and must save his reputation as a forward-thinking member of the Church community. His actions with the boy could be an innocent helping-hand – or are they the workings of a self-centered man of the cloth? Wagner’s straight-forward portrait never lets us know for certain – which is the actor’s assignment here.
The supporting roles of young Sister James and the boy in question’s mother, Mrs. Muller, are keenly fashioned by Morgan Morton and Ka’Lena Cuevas, respectively. Ms. Morton’s naive and confused young nun is, I think, meant to convey our own unsureness with what is presented, and Morton plays it well. Ms. Cuevas is convincing as a no-nonsense mother, who believes that as long as her boy can make it to high school, he has a chance to succeed, no matter what befalls him in the church school. Her acceptance of her boy’s being “that way” and needing the priest’s attention is perhaps the most strikingly honest idea in the play.
A simple set by Greg Fiebig works perfectly, costumes by Dede Wamberg hit the mark, and sound and lights by Zach Catlin and Natalie Spoerle are just what is needed.
Bottom line: All this fine work was seen at a dress rehearsal which Mrs. K. and I attended, and I will presume that with a full audience’s reaction and energy, this piece will rise to an even greater level. I believe many will see this one as a high point of our local community theatre season.
Doubt: A Parable runs ONLY Jan. 25 through 28 at The Switch Theatre, 10029 126th St., Fishers. Tickets are available online at hyperionplayers.com/tickets.
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