John Patrick Shanley’s Pulitzer Prize- and Tony Award®-winning Best Play has blazed back to Broadway starring Academy Award® and Tony nominee Amy Ryan and Tony winner Liev Schreiber. This “excellent new revival, directed by Scott Ellis, affords the pleasure of watching two supremely good actors going toe to toe” (The Wall Street Journal). “Ryan and Schreiber are electric on Broadway (Entertainment Weekly).”.
The fireworks begin as the exacting principal of a Bronx Catholic school—feared by students and colleagues alike—suspects improper relations between a charismatic priest and a student. She’s forced to wrestle with what’s fact, what’s fiction, and just how far she’ll go to expose what she sees as the truth. As the New York Post says, “It keeps the audience guessing and second-guessing through the play’s famous final line.”
It’s tempting to chalk this up to Ryan’s last-minute substitution for Tyne Daly, who bowed out as the production began previews. And though, perhaps, some time will benefit the production, it seems impossible to fault Ryan, who is soul-shakingly effective. Her Sister Aloysius is stoney and near-monotone, as if registering emotion would seem to her ungodly or, worse, unproductive. The actor makes an art out of frozenness: her physical rigidity — at times cutting a monolithic silhouette in her nun’s habit (by Linda Cho) — is richly unwavering, whether due to resoluteness or paralysis. She’s matched by her castmates, as well as David Rockwell’s exquisite church set, which rotates to fold in on itself even as its cloistered garden provides a glimmer of hopeful ascent. If this Doubt leaves room for growth, there is still none left as to the play’s intense brilliance.
With an imbalance between them, as well as between Ryan and Quincy Tyler Bernstine (excellent in a single scene as Donald’s mother), the production wobbles. The electric confrontation between Aloysius and Flynn is underpowered and prevents the play from reaching its climax. Ryan should be applauded for learning this titanic role and creating her portrayal in what limited time she had. But everything about the world of Ellis’ production is calibrated for a different performance.
Digital Rush
Price: $48
Where: On the TodayTix app.
When: 9am on the day of the performance
Limit: Two per customer
Information: Subject to availability.
2005 | Broadway |
Broadway Transfer Broadway |
2008 |
Original Motion Picture |
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2017 | West End |
London Revival at Southwark Playhouse West End |
2024 | Broadway |
Roundabout Theatre Company Broadway Revival Production Broadway |
Year | Ceremony | Category | Nominee |
---|---|---|---|
2024 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Revival of a Play | Doubt: A Parable |
2024 | Drama League Awards | Outstanding Revival of a Play | Doubt: A Parable |
2024 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Revival of a Play | Doubt: A Parable |
2024 | Tony Awards | Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play | Liev Schreiber |
2024 | Tony Awards | Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play | Quincy Tyler Bernstine |
2024 | Tony Awards | Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play | Amy Ryan |
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