Doubt: A Parable "...is at once timely and timeless."

Considering some of the events of the last week or so, it seems more imperative and timely than ever to go RUN, don't walk, to see Doubt: A Parable, at Brigit Saint Brigit. Each cast member is crackling with energy, intensity, and realism. In a time where opinions and speech are in such jeopardy, and our current administration is constantly looking for ways to undermine our abilities of free speech, Doubt rings evergreen. It is almost shocking how the conversations nearly mirror some of those I see play out in a loop online. It is a play that is at once timely and timeless.

Delaney Driscoll as Sister Aloysius provides an incredible bedrock on which the play stands. As we see over and over, her strength comes not from guesswork, but from conviction. Meanwhile, Murphy Wulfgar as Father Flynn brings a softness and a kindness to his performance that really makes you ask question after question, knowing the answers will never come. Melissa King as Sister James sits squarely in the middle of the two titans, finding herself pulled to the very limits of her self-identity, having not a crisis of faith, but of heart. And finally, Lisa Israel as Mrs. Muller comes in with a startling matter-of-fact delivery, showing us her strength of spirit not with shouts or screams, but with the desperate love of a mother trying to keep her son safe in a world rocked by turmoil at every turn.

The set is very basic, but being staged in an actual church makes the proceedings feel all the more relevant and poignant. The electricity is the script is absolutely present, and watching one of my personal literary "heroes" (Sister Aloysius) being played with such aplomb and deftness was an absolute joy.

Shanley asks us, with Doubt, how far would you go for your conviction? How "certain" is certainty? And then refuses to give us an easy answer. Doubt is such a crucial piece of theatre, and if you've never seen it live, I urge you to grab a ticket for the next two weekends to go see this production. There is something absolutely thrilling to watch people feel and think and consider Shanley's words and characters in real time, and something even more visceral when you can feel the audience around you shift and squirm during the uncomfortable parts, hold their breath and barely contain their excitement at a well-timed line or, in the case of spontaneous applause for Lisa Israel's jaw-dropping turn as Mrs. Muller, not contain the excitement at all.

Even writing this review, I can barely contain my excitement just remembering my experience viewing it. I urge you to both go out and support an organization that produces quality theatre, but also support an organization that chooses difficult plays, and puts together incredible work.

Doubt runs 6 more performances, September 19, 20, 21, 26, 27, and 28. Please do yourself a favor and go.