"Doubt — A Parable" tightly constructed and well conceived

HARTFORD — “Doubt — A Parable,” the 90-minute one act play at TheatreWorks is so tightly constructed and well conceived it feels like it is over almost before it starts, and at the same time leaves one with compelling thoughts and images that linger for days.
The drama is an intellectual and emotional roller-coaster ride, examining religious doctrine, male privilege, race relations, and pedophilia from four diametrically opposed perspectives.
The Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award winning play by John Patrick Shanley is set in 1964 at St. Nicholas school in Brooklyn. Sister Aloysius, played with passionate rigid certitude by Glynis Bell, is the school’s principal.
Sister Aloysius has unshakable and apparently unfounded suspicions, bordering on the obsessive, that the priest, Father Brendan Flynn, played with appealing charisma by Mark Saturno, may be engaging in a sexual relationship with the new 12-year-old black student — the first African American to attend the school.
Letitia Lange plays a young nun, Sister James, whom Sister Aloysius interrogates about Father Flynn. Lange achieves a fine balance between her struggle to be a good and strict nun, striking terror in her students as Sister Aloysius advocates, and her unabashed joy of teaching and connecting with the students.
The elder nun admonishes the younger, attempting to quash Sister James’ enthusiasm — instructing her that “innocence is a form indulgence,” “satisfaction is a vice,” and every easy choice today will lead to trouble tomorrow.
Bell’s Sister Aloysius is not a generous woman, and it is easy to dislike her, which makes it all the more challenging and disturbing to see her point of view as the story unfolds.
Sister Aloysius also represents the “old school” religious dogma, which emphasized suffering and self-sacrifice as the path to salvation, before the 1962 Second Vatican Council.
The Second Vatican Council advocated a new, more inclusive philosophy towards its parishioners — a progressive approach that Flynn espouses.
Similarly, Fynn is an easy man to like, which makes his possible pedophilia all the more wrenching to fathom.
At one point Flynn compassionately comforts the distraught and conflicted Sister James, supporting her passionate enthusiasm for teaching, saying: “There are people who go after your humanity, and kill kindness in the name of virtue” — clearly alluding to Sister Aloysius in his forceful admonition.
Cherene Snow, who plays the young boy’s mother, Mrs. Muller, is memorable as the black mother who understands her son well, with a point of view of her own, which is as surprising as it is compelling.
The single set by Adrian W. Jones of the Sister Aloysius’ office with the small sidewalk scattered with dead leaves is brightly lit by Matthew Richards, and perfectly well suited for austere religious institution.
Saturno and Bell have worked together before at TheatreWorks in “The Retreat from Moscow” in 2006.
Whether it is because of their previous history together or not, the volatile and dynamic chemistry between these two was fascinating to witness.
In fact, all four of the actors brought a reality and truthfulness to their roles, infusing this production with an immediacy that was breathtaking to experience.

Three Stars

Theater: TheatreWorks

Location: 233 Pearl St. Hartford.

Production: Written by John Patrick Shanley. Directed by Steve Campo. Set Design Adrian W. Jones. Costume Design by Elizabeth Flauto. Lighting design by Matthew Richards. Sound design by J. Hagenbuckle

Running time: 90 minutes, no intermission

Show Times: Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays at 7:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. Matinees on Saturdays and Sunday at 2:30 p.m. Extra Sunday evening shows at 7:30 p.m. during the later weeks of most runs. The show will run through Dec. 23.

Tickets: $35, except Friday and Saturday nights, $45, and are unassigned seating. Center reserved seats $10 extra. $10 student rush tickets at showtime with valid ID, subject to availability. For tickets call 527-7838 or visit their website at www.theatreworks.org.

ACTOR...CHARACTER
Glynis Bell...Sister Aloysius
Letitia Lange...Sister James
Mark Saturno...Father Brendan Flynn
Cherene Snow...Mrs. Muller