Doubt, A Parable at Dundee Rep review: 'quietly thrilling evocation'
Faith and belief are at the heart of John Patrick Shanley's 2004 play, seen here for the first time in Scotland since 2010. Set in a Catholic school in the Bronx district of New York in 1964, Shanley's play pointedly frames itself a year after the assassination of President John F Kennedy. This is highlighted in an opening sermon by the progressive Father Flynn, who questions putting what is sometimes blind faith in old certainties.
This is a red rag for Sister Aloysius, who rules the school with a tight-lipped authoritarianism that won't allow room for any new ways of thinking, whatever Vatican 2 might say. This leads her to embark on a campaign against Father Flynn with the intent of ousting him from office. To do this, she manipulates her young charge Sister James into reluctant complicity with her damning claims regarding Father Flynn's alleged conduct before what is effectively a trial by hearsay ensues.
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This makes for an intense ninety minutes in Joanna Bowman's concentrated production, as Shanley's spare text is passed between the four people on stage like increasingly poisoned sacraments. Designer Jessica Worrall's brutalist interior provides sanctuary for confession and conspiracy alike, with the only breath of fresh air coming from the occasional glimpse of a tree outside that marks the changing seasons. Each scene is punctuated by dramatic chorales brought to the fore by sound designer Richard Bell in a way that ramps up the play's all too earthly stakes.
Ann Louise Ross makes for a deadly and unforgiving Sister Aloysius, with Michael Dylan giving as good as he gets as a steely Father Flynn. As Sister Aloysius turns him into a bogeyman, Emma Tracey lays bare Sister James' awakening from innocent idealism to the harsh realities of the political game she's caught up in. Mercy Ojelade adds further complications to an already volatile mix as Mrs Muller, the mother of the only black child in the school, and whose relationship with Father Flynn kick-starts Sister Aloysius' obsession. In the end, what actually did or didn't happen is never revealed in a quietly thrilling evocation of ideological power plays in which the only thing sacrificed is the truth.
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