You simply can’t ignore Doubt

You only have to know that Doubt won the 2005 Tony for Best Play, and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, to realize what a coup it is for Atlantis Productions to have acquired the rights to stage the play here. Shifting from RCBC Plaza in Makati to Onstage, Ayala Center, Cebu on June 30, July 1 and 2, Doubt is, without doubt, the hottest theater ticket in town. Having said that, I realize that "hot" is relative, as what exactly is the state of theater now in the Philippines, and is a ready SRO audience really out there? Shame if it isn’t, because Doubt brings home what the magic of theater is really all about.

Alternately, one is bemused, one laughs out loud, one is made to confront ideas, make decisions or take sides, and ultimately, one is entertained while being provoked to think and muse on what counts in life. Doubt resounds way after the last line has been declaimed. It’s the sort of play one discusses and argues with friends after. This has always been the special spell that great theater can cast upon us; and under the sure direction of Chari Arespacochaga, the four characters that make up this John Patrick Shanley gem of a play deliver the goods, and make believers out of us.

The setting is a Bronx Catholic school in 1964. Sister Aloysius (Cherie Gil) is the strict disciplinarian principal running the school, and Sister James (Cathy Azanza) is a young nun engaged as a teacher for some of the classes. Fr. Brendan Flynn (Niccolo Manahan) handles priestly duties at the school and parish. Also tasked as basketball coach, a crisis arrives in the form of the suspicion raised that Fr. Flynn may be molesting the only Negro student in the school, Donald Muller. The fourth character we meet in the play is the mother of Donald (Jay Glorioso plays Mrs. Muller), called in for a meeting with Sister Aloysius.

Immediately, one sees the potential of the premise; and it’s to Shanley’s credit that the dramatic content never flags. The play starts off with a sermon by Fr. Flynn, and with the opening line of "What do you do when you are not sure?," we are thrust into a world of moral choices, conflict and dilemma. You place Doubt on one side, and Certainty on the other; and there’s the search and struggle for Truth that falls in between. Similarly, there is the application of Compassion on one side, and the application of Strict Exacting Standards on the other, with choices in between of what to apply given the gamut of situations that arise daily. All these play against the context of the premise of this play, and like some detective drama that unfolds, one is never sure of the ground one stands on – and here lies the sorcery of Shanley, and how he makes Doubt transcend other "black and white" morality plays.

The prevailing tone of Doubt is "gray" – every character is likable, and yet criticized for his or her weakness and personality flaw. There is no clear hero or villain in the piece, but much like real life, there are people who are essentially good in nature but are all tainted when held up to the light of Shanley’s scrutiny The second sermon we have to hear from Fr. Flynn, his parable about the pillow one tears to shreds on a rooftop, and its connection to gossip and reputation is priceless. As is the conversation between Fr. Flynn, Sisters Aloysius and James discuss the use of a secular song (such as Frosty the Snowman) in the next Christmas school program.

I asked Chari if there was any move to adapt the play to a more Philippine setting. As it is a Catholic school, would it not be much of a stretch to turn it into a school right here in Manila and have Donald Muller as a socially disadvantaged child/scholar in some exclusive school? This would make the play that much more accessible for a Filipino audience. Unfortunately, it was explained to me that the terms of the contract precluded such tinkering. Who knows, perhaps in the near future, when the play will no longer be running on Broadway, and terms are liberalized.

I brought my 14-year-old son with me and he was suitably impressed. Cherie Gil and Niccolo Manahan are standouts. While the roles that Cathy and Jay play may not be as central as the two, these roles still play very important roles in precipitating the flow of the drama and revealing information crucial to the complexity that makes this play so special. While we do have a theater-going public, there may be a propensity to patronize musicals or children’s plays. To ignore Doubt would be a disservice to still claiming status as a theater-goer. It is a wonderful drama, and full marks to Atlantis, Chari and the cast for making my night at RCBC truly enjoyable.