Stage 3‘s “Doubt” Engages the Audience
Review by Wayne Kirkbride
The cast of ‘Doubt’ from left to right is Maryann Curmi as Sister Aloysius, Sid Marsh as Father Flynn and Kelly Ruelas as Sister James. Photo courtesy of Rich Miller Photography.
Stage 3 opened their latest offering of theatre for the community with the Pulitzer Prize Drama for 2005, “Doubt,” on Friday, June 20. The play is directed by Riverside resident, Lloyd Battista, whose acting career spanned decades with such giants of the entertainment industry as John Wayne, Lucille Ball, George C. Scott, Woody Allen, and others.
In this production, Mr. Battista has teamed with artistic director, Don Bilotti to present a thought-provoking drama set in a Catholic school in 1964. The school’s principal, Sister Aloysius has learned from a young nun, Sister James, the possibility of improper conduct between priest Father Flynn and one of the male students, the school’s only black child. Sister Aloysisus makes it her mission to confront the priest, force his admission of wrongdoing and resign from the parish. It is in this scenario that the strong characterizations and test of wills is played out to their conclusions.
The set design by Ron Cotnam presents the audience with the school principal’s office circa 1960s, a pulpit to one side of the stage where Father Flynn delivers his sermons, and the school’s courtyard garden, skillfully designed with planters where some of the exchanges between the cast takes place.
The play is equally about the characters and the theme, which attempts to show how “facts” can be twisted and shaped by misunderstandings and prejudices to produce a distorted reality. Sister Aloysisus, played by veteran actor, Maryann Curmi turned in a sterling performance of a head nun who’s by-the- book, no nonsense strict code of conduct leaves no “doubt” in her mind that Father Flynn is guilty of improper conduct with the student. Although she lacks evidence, she refuses to back down in her almost fanatical drive to rid the parish of the priest. Curmi’s character is the most interesting as the audience is presented with the unasked and unanswered questions of why or what drives the nun who seems to have issues with Father Flynn even before she hears of possible improprieties. Does she resent him because he is popular, and wants the Church to be more engaging with the students – have camping trips and become more like friends?
Sister James, the young nun, played by Kelly Ruelas, plays her as a character with trepidation and misgivings about herself and in her dealings with Sister Aloysisus as she becomes the catalyst that starts the series of events when she tells Aloysisus of things she has seen. She is tormented between her duty and obligation to protect the boy in question, yet not convinced in her heart that she should aid the head nun’s efforts to basically destroy his reputation. She later blurts out her pent-up emotions and tells the head nun she believes Father Flynn is innocent. Her conflicts – of her own abilities in the school and the drama that plays out was convincingly portrayed.
Father Flynn, played by Sid Marsh, gave a believable and tormented picture of a priest who proclaims his innocence when confronted by Aloysisus. With a range of emotion from incredulity, to anger, compassion, and resignation, Marsh skillfully portrayed the priest who gains our sympathies, yet leaves room in the audiences’ mind that perhaps – in spite of Aloysisus’s “witch-hunt” – there might be some truth to the allegations.
Rounding out the cast, with the shortest scene, but with one of the most dramatic, is Mrs. Muller, the black student’s mother, played very evenly with strength by Michelle Allison. Her confrontation – as it becomes – with Sister Aloysisus in her office is a further character study of Aloysius as we see the boy’s mother reveal to her why she wants to bury any discussion of wrongdoing by the priest who has become a mentor to the boy. Mrs. Muller just wants to “get to June” when her boy will graduate and go forward to high school where she feels he will have a chance to succeed. We feel her indignity and see the conflicts within her about the best way to deal with the issue presented.
“Doubt” is more than a morality play. No easy solutions or answers are forthcoming by the end of the play as Sister Aloysisus is successful in forcing Father Flynn’s resignation from the parish and as she says, “his resignation is his admission of guilt”. It’s not that simple. In the concluding scene, Sister James encounters Sister Aloysisus in the garden. Her demeanor has changed to one of contriteness and she confesses to Sister James that she now, after all that has happened, has doubt.
I was impressed with the strong characters of the play, very well performed by the actors. If I had a quarrel with the play, it would be the play’s conclusion. With such unflinching conviction of Father Flynn’s guilt by Sister Aloysisus, I was disappointed that we were not given any explanation why the sudden change of heart that allowed “doubt” to question her previous position on his guilt or innocence. That said, the play presented through great acting and dialogue, the opportunity to watch a human drama that involved the audience as it wrestled with the nuances presented throughout the play that made us think and rethink how we deal with the “facts”, our own preconceived beliefs, and how we process our own doubts.
“Doubt” plays at Stage 3 through July 20.
Rating: 3 ½ stars (out of 4)
