Critical Raves Pour In For DOUBT

Conch Color

A review by Tom Oosterhoudt

Doubt is probably easily one of the most captivating shows ever seen on a local stage. In the first act, Sister Aloysius sucks us in to her world, judging all issues she is faced with in a systemic religious firebrand fever seething with unspoken condemnation. She takes what could be healthy skepticism to paranoid cynicism as the show unfolds before the audiences eyes. As she questions Sister James whether or not a student with a nose bleed was faking it, we see how her mind twists each issue with irrational fear.

The on stage chemistry between the concerted cynicism of Sister Aloysius and the unbridled innocence of Sister James is how the show sets the audience up. The issues depicted in the plot line creep into the audiences mind, finding everyone wondering which side they fall on. Is Aloysius right on in her cynical suspicions or not? The plotline is so absorbing that one can hear a pin drop throughout the final half of the show.

Set in the seventies, the show tackles several taboos of the period, including the initial integration of the schools, and the repercussions felt by the first black students, and the tidal wave of complaints about Catholic priests from molested altar boys that began in that era. The show actually manages to juxtapose the racial element and the black experience to the stigmatized priesthood with surprising results. The drama evolves to a jaw dropping ending, bringing gasps from the audience.

The acting in the show is nothing short of par excellence, with each actor capturing the very soul of their character. Joy Hawkins absolutely personifies the queen of mean as Sister Aloysisus. But toward the end she gradually lets a streak of human emotion come out, humanizing the otherwise tyrannical nun so immersed in her world of self defined rules of religious zealotry. Elena Devers shines as the counterbalance to Aloysisus, radiating with natural innocence, offering a logical challenge to her overwrought superior. David Black is an amazing chameleon of an actor, in this case, neither overacting as previous comedies called for, but finding comfort in the understated middle, neither overpowering Sister Aloysius, nor being overpowered by her. His credible portrayal of Father Flynn enables the crux of the show's plot, creating the "doubt", so essential to the plot. David manages to leave the audience wondering, long after the show is over. Miami actress Lela Elam stands out in this stellar local cast. In her role as Mrs. Muller, a tormented black mother dealing with an abusive husband and a tortured son, Lela Elam gives one of the most stirring and gut wrenching performances ever seen on a Key West stage. Portraying a young black mother struggling to survive in a world of double standards and prejudice, she evokes the black experience in every word, and the audience could feel her pain as she shot back at Sister Aloysius, "You have no idea how I feel". Her dialogue is troubling, and so it should be. Her words stir the conscience.

A little background on Lela's blockbuster performance. For 32 years the South Florida theatrical community has honored its best with the annual Carbonell awards, which draws hundreds of contenders. Last year, Lela Elam won the coveted best actress award for her tour de force performance in the show "In The Continuum". It goes without saying that she is one of Florida's most gifted actresses, and Key West has the rare chance to see Lela's amazing talent explode on stage at the Waterfront Playhouse. This caliber of acting is unsurpassed.

Finally, "Doubt" is the stage drama that won so much critical acclaim, it was made into a movie, which is nominated for any number of Oscars this year. The live stage play exudes raw emotion, which is hard to do on screen. I urge everyone to not miss this riveting show, and be able to compare, and state unequivocally, that Danny Weather's "Doubt" was clearly the best.

Solares Hill

February 1, 2009 - P A G E 7

"Doubt" Is a Riveting Parable for the Ages

By George Fontana

“What do you do when you’re not sure?” Father Brendan Flynn (David Black) asks the congregation of St. Nicholas Church in the opening scene of John Patrick Shanley’s prize-winning drama “Doubt, A Parable” playing at the Waterfront Playhouse through February 14. Despite several all-too-obvious exceptions – religious fundamentalists of all stripes, the recently departed and unlamented Bush administration and the apparently sociopathic Bernie Madoff – the majority of us spend our waking hours in a twilight zone of incertitude.

Doubt, in all its guises, is the subject of Shanley’s taunt drama.

The Waterfront Playhouse production is of the first water. Brilliant in its minimal staging, so authentic in its Michael Boyer set design that I automatically looked for stoups containing holy water, boasting first-rate performances and Danny Weathers’ exacting direction, “Doubt” is must-see theatre.

With her stern demeanor and pinched face, St. Nicholas school principal Sister Aloysius (Joy Hawkins) resembles the distaff member of “American Gothic” in nun’s drag. It’s 1964 and Sister suspects Father Flynn of inappropriate contact with Donald Muller, the schools “first negro student”. Hawkins steely portrayal of the resolute nun is so convincing that one imagines a ruler in her hand, although, in fact, ballpoint pens, not rulers, are her obsession.

Infused with the spirit of the Second Vatican Council, Father Flynn practices an “accessible” approach to his student charges and adult congregants, an approach in sharp contrast to Sister Aloysius’ no nonsense, no coddling dictum. The scenes between the contumacious nun and the charismatic priest, who vehemently denies any wrongdoing, provide spellbinding theater dramatically heightened by an always present, subtly menacing misogyny. Black’s portrayal of Father Flynn is riveting.

Torn between the two warring factions is Sister James (Elena Devers) whose devotion and affection for her students is seen as a liability by Sister Aloysius who chides Sister James for her innocence. “Innocent teachers are easily duped”, grumbles Aloysius. Devers perfectly captures Sister James’ conflicted allegiance to Father Flynn and Sister Aloysius. And Devers’ young nun comes into herself as, in defiance of Sister Aloysius, she boldly reclaims her passion for teaching and history.

Certainly the most surprising scene – shocking would work equally well here – occurs between Sister Aloysius and Mrs. Muller, Donald’s mother. The scheming Aloysius invites Mrs. Muller to her office to share her concerns regarding Father Flynn and young Donald. Mrs. Muller, played with flinty pragmatism and a quiet but commanding dignity by Miami actor Lela Elam, does not respond as expected. It’s a powerful moment as two strong woman square off in a scene in which backing down is not an option. Ms. Elam’s performance – unbending determination tempered with a mother’s fierce love - is simply remarkable.

While parables are traditionally of a religious nature, “Doubt” is, by contrast, a moral parable placed within a religious context. There is no tidy resolution. The audience must decide for itself where the truth lies. Of this I am certain, The Waterfront Playhouse production of “Doubt, A Parable” is dramatic theatre at it finest. Don’t miss it. Tickets at 294-5015.

Solares Hill

J A N U A R Y 2 5 , 2 0 0 9 - P A G E 4

"Doubt can be as powerful and sustaining as certainty,” says Father Brendan Flynn to Sister Aloysius Beauvier in John Patrick Shanley’s “Doubt.” Written as a play at the outset of the Iraq War, “Doubt” is now a movie starring Meryl Streep as the nun and Philip Seymour Hoffman as the priest. “Doubt” is also coming to Waterfront Playhouse, opening on Wednesday, Jan. 28. During the play’s three week run, Tropic Cinema is endeavoring to secure the movie version of “Doubt,” released nationally this month, for the added delight of audiences.

We were invited to attend a read-through of the play and came to understand how a tale set in the Bronx in 1964 could be inspired by the disastrous incursion into Iraq in 2004. It is a riveting, resounding drama set in a Catholic school that has just taken on its first black pupil. The nun in charge (played brilliantly both by Joy Hawkins in the local play and by Streep in the Hollywood version) chooses to be convinced by the insecurities of young Sister James (Elena Devers in the local version, again terrific) that the new pupil has been sexually abused by a charismatic priest, Father Flynn (homeboy David Black and Hoffman are both major league powerful in the role).

Most surprising character of all is the young pupil’s mother, played in Key West by Miami actress Lela Elam, who sees through Sister Aloysius’s fanaticism and out-manipulates her in a way we did not see coming.

Joy Hawkins as the terror nun gives a wholly realized reading of a curiously conflicted character. “I will do what needs to be done, Father, if it means I’m damned to Hell.” She sees the humor of her position. “Nuns fall, you know. It’s the habit.”

David Black as Father Flynn is also intriguingly ambiguous. “The truth makes for a bad sermon,” he says, his faith that doubt will trump dead certainty being based on the hazards of preemptive attack. “What actually happens in life is beyond interpretation.”

This play is no sermon.

With a set by Michael Boyer, costumes by Carmen Rodriguez and the stage managed by Trish Manley, “Doubt: A Parable” (its full title) is a stunningly professional interpretation of a hair-raising play.

And the last line will leave you gasping.