Go! review

At first blush, Sister Aloysius seems like the cliche educator nun. Even in 1964, when “Doubt: A Parable” takes place, she rails against the ball-point pen and the effect it has on penmanship. She speaks in sentences that seem to be culled from a book of pithy quotes: “Innocence is a form of laziness,” or “Don’t let a little blood muddle your judgment.” And when it comes to being sympathetic to the children in her charge, forget about it. “Every easy choice today will have its consequence tomorrow,” she tells fledgling teacher Sister James.

So when she has concerns about a relationship between the parish priest and one of the new students, the first “Negro” student in the St. Nicholas Church School in the Bronx, we have to wonder if she’s just reacting from her loathing of the priests in general, or if she really has such a keen sensibility in such matters.

Father Flynn’s story makes sense to Sister James, but then again, her pie-eyed enthusiasm is as much a source of the underlying humor in “Doubt” as Sister Aloysius’ crustiness. Nevertheless, the principal is so convinced that something untoward is going on that she bucks the Catholic hierarchy to challenge Father Flynn’s position.

Thus John Patrick Shanley’s script — winner of both the Pulitzer Prize and the Tony Award for Best Play — presents a moral dilemma with potentially tragic consequences.

Even though it takes place in 1964, “Doubt” resonates with the scandals afflicting the Catholic Church in the last decade or so in regard to the behavior of priests. In this time, the nuns are so suspicious of priests that they avoid even passing them in the courtyard.

This conflict, augmented by an insightful wit and sharply-drawn characters that rise above their type, not to mention an evocative set that looks about to implode on itself, makes “Doubt” an important play for our era and surely one not to be missed.

• WHAT: “Doubt: A Parable” by John Patrick Shanley
• WHERE: Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, Cincinnati
• WHEN: Through April 4
• COST: $39-$52
• MORE INFO: (513) 421-3888; www.cincyplay.com

Photo by Sandy Underwood

Caitlin O’Connell portrays Sister Aloysius and Ted Deasy is Father Flynn