Doubt: A Parable will leave Huntsville audiences with more questions than answers

Do you have the courage of your convictions? It’s one of the many questions the audience is asked to consider in Doubt: A Parable, the latest production from the Huntsville Theatre Company.

Set in a Catholic school in 1960s America, it pits Sister Aloysius (Teal Cochrane), the severe and tradition-bound principal of the school, against Father Flynn (Greg Perras), a charismatic and progressive young priest. She relentlessly scrutinizes his actions, ultimately accusing him of molesting a young male student. Caught in the middle are young, innocent Sister James (Lauren Saunders) who is eager to serve her church and her students, and Mrs. Muller (Veronica Leonard), the young boy’s mother, who is desperate to help her son gain a brighter future.

“This is a challenging play,” said director Greg Hancock. “It challenges the actors, it challenges the director, and it challenges the audience. It’s rich in ambiguity and potential. (Doubt) is set in an uneasy time of transition. In many ways, Sister Aloysius is giving the students what she thinks they need – a fierce moral guardian – and she will do anything in her power to protect them.”

Sister Aloysius (Teal Cochrane, right) confronts Father Flynn (Greg Perras) with Sister James (Lauren Saunders) as the scene’s uncomfortable witness

The playwright, John Patrick Shanley, dedicated the play to ‘the many orders of Catholic nuns who have devoted their lives to serving others in hospitals, schools and retirement homes. Though they have been much maligned and ridiculed, who among us has been so generous?’

“He leaves all sorts of tiny clues all the way through,” said Hancock. “This is not a play that attacks the church, it actually looks at the courage and conviction of the nuns and priests in the church. The challenge it explores is what happens when those convictions collide.”

That collision makes for some tense scenes – between Aloysius and Flynn, of course, but also between young Sister James and both of her older superiors as she is placed in an increasingly uncomfortable and discomfiting position.

Greg Perras nails Flynn’s conflicted desire to break free of the staunch church patriarchy while also using it to his advantage. Teal Cochrane portrays the severe Sister Aloysius to a tee, injecting a dose of humanity into her character’s tough morals. Lauren Saunders invites empathy as Sister James retreats into confusion and discomfort, all the while hoping for the good in the people around her to reveal itself. And Veronica Leonard, as the proud Mrs. Muller, perfectly portrays the struggle of a mother who must choose between her son’s present well-being and his future potential.

“The actors spent countless hours researching and investigating their own characters,” said Hancock. “It’s been a dream to direct them. It’s the only play I’ve directed where we spend as much time talking about a scene as we do rehearsing it, and then we do it again and it gets better and better every time.”

The play comes with some serious accolades: it won a Pulitzer Prize for Drama and a Tony Award for Best Play, and received three Academy Award nominations for the screen adaptation. Hancock and his cast have done the script proud.

Although it’s set in a Catholic school, this isn’t a play about religion. It explores the truth of our perceptions – do we really know what we think we do? “I want people to go away questioning their own sense of perception,” said Hancock. There is no doubt that will happen. The ultimate question is: what will you choose to believe?

Doubt: A Parable opens on March 4 with a wine and cheese pre-show reception. All evening performances start at 7:30pm and run for 90 minutes with no intermission. The popular Sweet Sunday Matinee on March 6 at 2pm includes post-show sweets and a discussion with the cast and director. The show runs until March 13. Tickets are $20 and are available at Treasures & Trophies or online.