Taproot Theatre's "Doubt": A well-crafted drama is the only certainty

Theater review |

Clocking in at a brisk 90 minutes, "Doubt" is precision-tooled for perfection. Remove a single line of dialogue and its absence will be keenly felt; add a word and it would surely seem extraneous. No wonder playwright John Patrick Shanley won the Pulitzer Prize, Obie and Tony awards for his resonant parable about the hazards of certainty: It's timeless, flawless and dramatically foolproof when placed in competent hands.

It's been only five months since Shanley's play was expertly staged at Seattle Rep, but Taproot's praiseworthy production offers a welcome opportunity to visit (or revisit) the play on a slightly more intimate scale. Presented on a no-frills set with an impressionistic Catholic-school façade as a backdrop, Taproot's economical staging is just as effective in mining the depths of Shanley's parable, which gains its powerful impact by posing difficult questions for which no easy answers are proffered or proposed.

Ambiguity is the catalyst for Shanley's potent drama, and Taproot's well-chosen cast makes the most of their challenge: Every performance maintains the degree of credibility that is necessary to keep the audience guessing; director Scott Nolte deftly avoids any imbalance that would sway the audience one way or the other, and our expectations are constantly and effectively thwarted.

Shanley posits a moral quandary that guarantees lively post-play debate. When presented with compelling truths and potential falsehoods on a constantly shifting terrain of conflicting agendas, doubt is the inevitable — and intellectually invigorating — outcome. For Shanley, doubt is to be embraced, and certainty rejected.

In her tiny office at St. Nicholas Catholic School in the Bronx, circa 1964, Sister Aloysius (Pam Nolte) is nothing if not certain that Father Flynn (William Kumma) has had inappropriate contact with the school's only African-American pupil. Certainty is the sword Sister Aloysius uses to cut Sister James (Jesse Notehelfer) down to size; her moral superiority to the enthusiastic novice will come to haunt her as Flynn's guilt or innocence becomes shrouded in doubt.

Shanley finds ample humor in the elder nun's stern-and-sturdy certitude, but "Doubt" is less concerned with Vatican bashing than the hazards of any religious code that reduces faith to inflexible platitudes. Whenever you think "Doubt" is playing to your own beliefs, Shanley — and director Nolte — will jolt you out of your comfort zone.

To that end, Taproot's cast confidently navigates Shanley's ethical hall of mirrors, which is also visited by the alleged victim's mother (Faith Russell). Like Sister A. and Father Flynn, she has her own selfish way of interpreting the truth — and if you feel certain about what you've seen on Taproot's efficiently designed stage, you've entirely missed the point.

Jeff Shannon: j.sh@verizon.net