Stage Review - Doubt, A Parable (SecondStory Rep)

Stage Review - Doubt, A Parable
Presented By: SecondStory Repertory - Redmond, WA
Show Run: March 28 - April 20, 2025
Date Reviewed: Thursday, April 03, 2025
Run Time: 85 Minutes (no intermission)
Reviewed By: Greg Heilman

Haven’t we all found ourselves in the position of suspecting, or being suspected of, a misdeed, based largely on a feeling or an intuition, from a look, a certain tone, all without actual proof? It’s such a different feeling to be on either end of the suspicion, each side either wielding power or having it thrust upon them, all without any substantive evidence to establish any degree of guilt. And further, it’s fascinating to study how our behaviors are informed by these suspicions, how we treat those we “think” did something, and how those on the other side sometimes act guilty, even if they aren’t, simply because of that power that the other holds over them, we see it all the time, and it’s exacerbated when the accuser is looking for something, when there’s a personality or philosophy difference, or a situation in which someone’s position, a job or social standing, might be in jeopardy, causing an inherent competitive relationship, where the only options are to either lift oneself up or knock the other down, the latter many times being the path of least resistance. Which brings us to Doubt, a Parable, the John Patrick Shanley play which is currently running on stage in Redmond at SecondStory Rep through April 20, in a production directed by Doug Knoop.

The Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award winning play seems simple enough, until you start pulling back the layers, only then does it present itself as the fantastically constructed onion of a story that it is. Set in a Bronx Catholic Parish and School in the Fall of 1964, smack in the middle of the changing civil rights landscape in America and at the genesis (pun intended) of the introduction of some more progressive ideology within the Catholic Church, Doubt is the story of an entrenched Parochial School principal, Sister Aloysius coming to terms with a progressive 8th grade teacher, Sister James, and an even more liberal minded young priest, Father Flynn. It’s this conservative ideal that drives how the principal manages her school, and how she treats those under her authority. It’s the internal conflict that she has, though, between her strict view of school management and the more progressive view held particularly by Father Flynn that causes her to keep a wary eye out, she’s naturally suspicious of anyone who holds these more liberal beliefs, so when Sister James confides in her that the young priest spent time alone with one particular student, from the elder’s perspective this is all she needs to hear to convince her that there is something awry, that Father Flynn has committed some degree of transgression, and that if he did it once, he’s probably done it with more than one student and he’ll most likely do it again. With no proof to speak of, and even with a clear and confident explanation from Father Flynn around the details of the “incident”, Sister Aloysius is not convinced, and is determined to run the young priest, not just out of their church, but out of the ministry altogether. Meanwhile, Sister James is caught in the middle, clearly influenced by Aloysius, her authority figure and de facto mentor, but also someone who has been working to break the young teacher of her idealism. Meanwhile, complicating the matter is the young boy in question, the one whom Aloysius suspects that Flynn has had inappropriate contact with, the first black student at the school, meaning that everyone involved knows that they need to tread lightly, lest the reputation of the school, the church, or the boy himself be spoiled. Given the nature of the Catholic Church, and its order of authority, there’s not much Aloysius feels she can do, it’s a man’s world within those walls, so she takes up the effort herself, even calling the boy’s mother, who upon meeting with the principal adds yet another layer of complexity to the story. It should be clear from what I’ve just described that there’s a lot going on in the 85 minutes of runtime that Doubt has, and that this is a layered piece, dealing with the themes of suspicion without proof, misogyny, race, power, progressiveness and religion, sexual misconduct, and of course faith, doubt, and gossip. Some of these are even addressed by Father Flynn during his sermons presented in the play, but the best part about all of this is that Shanley provides no answers about any of it. He serves up all of the information for the audience to make their own decision, but that’s it, and in the process he’s crafted a play that will surely be the topic of discussion on the ride home from the theatre, maybe even longer.

Doug Knoop has cast two groups of actors for this run of Doubt, Cast 1 and Cast A. I like how he’s named them, so that there’s no inclination for anyone to think that either cast is a first string or a second. Not that they would be, but in a show that is about how human psychology can lead us make decisions based on the shortcuts our minds take, not letting us do that makes a ton of sense. Cast 1 is comprised of Daniel Wood as Father Flynn, Sound on Stage Award winner Ingrid Sanai Buron as the elder school principal Sister Aloysius, Mariah Lee Squires as the young and naive Sister James, and Shana Emile as Mrs. Muller, mother of student Donald Muller, whom Flynn is accused of engaging in his transgression with. Time and scheduling being what it is, I only have the ability to see one cast, and the group on stage Thursday evening was Cast A, with Jeremy Radick (Father Flynn), Lisa Viertel (Sister Aloysius) , Ashley Rose Klimper (Sister James), and Keaisha Hunt (Mrs. Muller).

The cast I saw is solid, especially the leads. As the show begins, the audience is met by Father Flynn, delivering a sermon about, well, doubt. A sort of foreshadowing of what’s about to transpire over the coming 85 minutes, he claims that “Doubt can be as powerful and sustaining as certainty”. In the sermon, Flynn uses a parable about a young sailor who is left alone at sea after his ship sinks and his crew dies. It’s one of many parables used throughout the play, and this highlights how and why the play itself is constructed this way. It’s a bit like the difference between an idea and a belief, this between a parable and reality. The ideas, or the parables, can be interpreted, subjectively, there’s no right or wrong associated with them, whereas reality and beliefs, those are concrete, and not easily manipulated, decisions based on those can have far reaching consequences as opposed to those made as a result of an idea of from the study of a parable. What’s obvious, though, outside of the content of this initial sermon, is Jeremy Radick’s chops, his ability, and the quality of this particular performance. It’s up to him to create the ambiguity around whether his Flynn is guilty or not, and Jeremy is on target. He’s clearly a more progressive priest, with new ideas around how to treat students, contrary to those subscribed to by Lisa Viertel’s Sister Aloysius, he’s friendly to them, jokes around with them on the basketball court, and hopes to build a confidence with his students so that they can confide in him. At the same time, when the principal confronts him with her suspicions, the emotion that Jeremy brings out in this character, the timing of it, especially its suddenness, implies a something at least adjacent to non-innocence. But it’s never clear totally either way, and that’s the beauty of Jeremy’s performance.. His presence on stage is strong, whether he’s delivering a sermon or defending his position, and he plays Flynn with a good degree of sincerity. Plus, when in his second sermon, he slips into an Irish lilt, he absolutely nails it.

Flynn’s opponent, for lack of a better word, on stage is Sister Aloysius, of course, and as strong as Jeremy is, Lisa Viertel is right there. Speaking with an accent that is consistent, never dropped, and pretty darn accurate, Lisa’s Aloysius is tough, tough on Sister James, tough on Father Flynn, tough on Mrs. Muller, and ultimately tough on herself. She holds herself perfectly for the role, with a posture and voice that demonstrates her authority. Her character is prideful, though she’ll probably never admit it, so much so that she’s unwilling to hear anything that will change her mind, or allow her to consider a different perspective. She’s cool under pressure, while Jeremy’s Flynn is a bit more emotional. Lisa presents a character that has to deal with a lot, changing attitudes within the church, misogyny of the church hierarchy, which doesn’t seem to change, and the perceived transgression of this priest and the repercussions that could follow, given the racial implications surrounding it. Lisa is strong throughout the piece, but her best scenes, and I feel Jeremy’s as well, are when the two square off together.

While Flynn and Aloysius battle each other, Ashley Rose Klimper’s Sister James is caught in the middle. Ashley’s character here is really the only transformative one, starting out naive and idealistic and becoming more mature and experienced as the play progresses, both from what she goes through personally and from Aloysius’ tutelage. I like the way Ashley portrays the conflict between believing in her heart that Flynn is not guilty of that which he is accused and her loyalty to her mentor, which seems born more out of a sort of fear than anything else. Filling out the cast is Keaisha Hunt, in the smallest of the roles, only on stage for one scene, in which her character is called in to meet with Sister Aloysius to discuss her son’s performance at school, but it’s really to help the principal gather information on his relationship with Father Flynn. The meeting backfires, and rather than learn something that can hep her in the case against Flynn, Sister Aloysius is given a life lesson about what it’s like for people of color outside of her bubble, something it seems the young priest was already aware of. This scene was a struggle on Thursday. I’ve seen other versions of this where directors treat the role of Mrs. Muller as a throwaway, meaning they’ll cast a first time actor, or someone without a lot of experience, with no care how this performance goes in the grand scheme of the show. I don’t believe that Doug is treating this role as a throwaway, and certainly Keaisha is not an unexperienced actor, but she did struggle on Thursday, tripping over her lines, repeating one specific line three times. It’s one of those things, as I know from experience, that can snowball, and it seems like it did for her on Thursday, but with her experience, I’m sure that Keaisha will bounce back for her next performance. Sometimes it’s just a matter of an off night, and it’s a matter of how we bounce back more than anything.

Finally, there’s the creative side of this production, and on this I’m going to sound like a broken record. Mark Chenovick, scenic designer, which includes set, lighting, and sound, once again has presented a backdrop for a show that is, well to be frank, it’s magnificent. Any set for Doubt requires three general locations and for the set to be divided into these areas. The first is Sister Aloysius’ office, which here is offset a bit downstage to stage left. The majority of stage right is the courtyard where the nuns go to relax, to contemplate, an area that feels like it’s outdoors, though of course it’s not. The best part of the set, though, is in the middle and set upstage, a large wooden cross, surrounded by what is lit to look like stained glass along with stone steps. It’s a beautiful and, quite frankly, stunning part of the set, part of a design that also includes props within Sister Aloysius’ office that are period appropriate and are authentically weathered and dusty.

Doubt, A Parable, John Patrick Shanley’s Pulitzer and Tony Award winning play is a layered piece that asks a lot of questions, and in the brilliant way that only Shanley can, it provides no answers. Written in the tradition of the biblical parable, Doubt leaves a lot open to interpretation and is ultimately subjective, as opposed to a strict reality based story which is more akin to a belief that can have disastrous consequences when acted upon. The lack of answers comes down to the ambiguity that is written into the script, but in the SecondStory Rep production, it’s also a result of how the cast understands that to lean one way, whether Father Flynn is guilty of his supposed transgression or not, is to do a disservice to the messaging of the play, and under the direction of Doug Knoop, Cast A that performed on Thursday evening managed that balance perfectly. This production of Doubt, with a gloriously designed set as a backdrop to the story, is a thinker, it’s engaging, and it never strays from the message, leaving the audience to wonder what they will do the next time they suspect a transgression, based on nothing more than a gut feeling or an instinct.

John Patrick Shanley’s Doubt, A Parable, runs on stage at SecondStory Repertory in Redmond through April 20. For more information, including ticket availability and sales, visit https://www.secondstoryrep.org/.

Photo credit: Michael Brunk