Review: MacDonald Is a Powerhouse in Stoneham's DOUBT

Written by John Patrick Shanley; directed by Caitlin Lowans; scenic design, JiYoung Han; costume design, Rachel Padula-Shufelt; lighting design, Chris Fournier; sound design, David Reiffel; props master, Elizabeth Rocha; production stage manager, Rachel Policare

Cast in Alphabetical Order:

Mrs. Muller, Miranda Craigwell; Father Brendan Flynn, Gabriel Kuttner; Sister Aloysius, Karen MacDonald; Sister James, Kathryn Myles

Performances and Tickets:

Final performance is Sunday, September 28 at 2 pm; tickets are $45-$50 ($5 off for seniors; $15 for students with a valid ID) and are available online at www.stonehamtheatre.org or by calling the Box Office at 781-279-2200.

The mark of a great play or a great role is that it can stand up to a new interpretation and still be equally thrilling. Such is the case with the Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award winner DOUBT: A PARABLE by John Patrick Shanley.

On Broadway, Cherry Jones peppered her Tony Award-winning performance as the unstoppable Sister Aloysius with equal parts determination and charm. At the Stoneham Theatre in Stoneham, Mass., Jones' long-time friend and recent THE GLASS MENAGERIE understudy Karen MacDonald (a founding member with Jones of the American Repertory Theater in Cambridge) is a mighty fortress of righteousness tinged with a not so subtle streak of paranoia. Right from the get-go we wonder if the Catholic school principal heaven bent on proving that one of the parish priests is a pedophile is acting out of true concern for her students or a bigger animosity toward the power and patriarchy of the church itself. We doubt her motives, and the game's afoot.

By cagily suckering the audience into initially suspecting Sister Aloysius of manipulating one of her novice teachers Sister James ( a very fine Kathryn Myles) into seeing the worst in Father Flynn's "friendship" with a troubled young black student , director Caitlyn Lowans allows us to believe in the innocence of the amiable priest (a sympathetic Gabriel Kuttner). It is only as the power struggle between Sister Aloysius and Father Flynn twists and turns that our own convictions are challenged, too. Where does the truth really lie? It's hard to know for sure.

With DOUBT Shanley has managed to dramatize the frustratingly elusive nature of accusations made without hard proof. What he has added, though, is a devastating layer of personal soul-searching for a steadfastly loyal nun whose lifelong obedience to the church is tested beyond measure when she sees how the "old boys" rally to protect each other, even at the expense of the children put in their charge. It's a bitter lesson that Sister Aloysius ultimately learns, and therein lies the painful "parable" of the play.

MacDonald makes the sister's inner anguish over the outcome her actions have wrought more visceral and clear than in any other production I have seen. She has no doubt about Father Flynn's guilt, yet she is tormented by the fallout of her efforts to remove him from his position at her school. Her single-minded purpose affects not only the priest's future, but that of the young Donald Muller, too. Her life of devotion will never be the same, either. Her unwillingness to overlook her suspicions, as both Sister James and Mrs. Muller (Miranda Craigwell) have chosen to do, destroys the very faith that drives her. What will her future be?

As Sister James, Myles is less shrinking violet and more torn innocent, wanting to believe in the best in people yet eager to learn from her formidable principal. She skillfully captures the essence of a first-year teacher faced with an impossible challenge. Craigwell as the protective mother is more pragmatic about her choice to turn a blind eye to the evidence Sister Aloysius presents her about the relationship between Father Flynn and her son. Knowing exactly what the world is like for a young black student in the pre-Civil Rights Era of 1964, she doesn't want to make any more trouble for her family than necessary. Caught in a no-win situation, she chooses the path of least resistance for Donald.

In a niftily circumspect performance, Kuttner reveals Father Flynn's personality in layers. During his Sunday sermons, he is a warm and intelligent shepherd telling stories that raise awareness and enlightenment. With Sister James, he is a kindred spirit, sharing the notion that love and compassion are more effective teaching tools than distance and discipline. With Sister Aloysius, he is alternately charming and convincing - at least until her unrelenting threats spur him to defensiveness and anger.

Ultimately it is MacDonald, though, who infuses DOUBT with its power and pathos. Her Sister Aloysius is yet another virtuosic performance in a long and triumphant career.

PHOTOS BY MARK S. HOWARD: Karen MacDonald as Sister Aloysius, Kathryn Myles as Sister James, and Gabriel Kuttner as Father Flynn; Karen MacDonald; Gabriel Kuttner; Kathryn Myles and Karen MacDonald