Editing Doubt: A Parable

{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2024}}
{{short description|2004 play by John Patrick Shanley}}
{{Infobox play
| name       = Doubt, A Parable
| image      = Doubt, A Parable.jpg
| writer     = [[John Patrick Shanley]]
| characters = {{ubl|Sister Aloysius|Father Flynn|Sister James|Mrs. Muller}}
| setting    = A Catholic school in the Bronx. Autumn 1964.
| premiere   = November 23, 2004
| place      = [[Manhattan Theatre Club]]<br>[[New York City, New York]]
| orig_lang  = English
| subject    = A nun suspects a priest of molesting an altar boy
| genre      = Drama
}}
'''''Doubt, A Parable''''' is a dramatic [[Play (theatre)|stage play]] written by American playwright [[John Patrick Shanley]]. Originally staged [[off-Broadway]] at the [[Manhattan Theatre Club]] on November 23, 2004, the production transferred to the [[Walter Kerr Theatre]] on [[Broadway theatre|Broadway]] in March 2005 and closed on July 2, 2006 after 525 performances and 25 previews. The play won the 2005 [[Pulitzer Prize for Drama]] and [[Tony Award for Best Play]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.playbill.com/news/article/92095.html |title=''Doubt'' wins the Pulitzer Prize |work=Playbill |date=April 4, 2005 |first=Robert |last=Simonson |author-link1=Robert Simonson |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080829120952/http://www.playbill.com/news/article/92095.html |archive-date=August 29, 2008}}</ref>

In 2008, the play was adapted as a feature film titled ''[[Doubt (2008 film)|Doubt]]''. It starred [[Meryl Streep]] as Sister Aloysius and [[Philip Seymour Hoffman]] as Father Flynn and was nominated for several [[Academy Awards]].

==Plot==
The play is set in the fictional St. Nicholas Church School, in [[the Bronx]], during the fall of 1964. It opens with a sermon by Father Flynn, a beloved and progressive parish priest, addressing the importance of uncertainty: "Doubt can be a bond as powerful and sustaining as certainty." The school's principal, Sister Aloysius, a rigidly conservative nun who is vowed to her order, the [[Sisters of Charity of New York|Sisters of Charity]], insists upon constant vigilance. During a meeting with a younger nun, Sister James, Aloysius reveals a deep mistrust toward her students, her fellow teachers, and society in general. Naïve and impressionable, James is easily upset by Aloysius's severe manner and harsh criticism.

Aloysius and Flynn are put into direct conflict when she learns from James that the priest had a one-to-one meeting with Donald Muller, St. Nicholas's first [[African Americans|African-American]] student. Mysterious circumstances lead her to believe that [[sexual misconduct]] occurred. In a private meeting, purportedly regarding the [[Christmas pageant]], Aloysius, in the presence of  James, openly confronts Flynn with her suspicions. He angrily denies wrongdoing by insisting that he was disciplining Donald for drinking [[altar wine]] and claims to have been protecting the boy from harsher punishment. James is relieved by the explanation. Flynn's next sermon is on the evils of gossip.

Aloysius, dissatisfied with Flynn's story, meets with Donald's mother, Mrs. Muller. Despite Aloysius's attempts to shock her, Mrs. Muller says she supports her son's relationship with Flynn. She ignores Aloysius's accusations. Before departing, she hints that Donald may be "[[homosexuality|that way]]," which may cause her husband to be beating him.

Flynn eventually threatens to remove Aloysius from her position if she does not back down. Aloysius informs him that she phoned the last parish to which he was assigned and that she discovered a history of past infringements. After declaring his innocence, the priest begins to plead with her, but she blackmails him and demands that he resign immediately, or she will publicly disgrace him with his history. Disgusted, she leaves the office. Flynn calls the bishop to apply for a transfer, and is subsequently promoted to pastor of a nearby parochial school.

After hearing the news, Aloysius reveals to Sister James that the decisive phone call to Flynn's previous parish was a fabrication and that she has no evidence of past wrongdoing. As a result, Aloysius is left with ambiguous doubt, and the audience is left to wonder if the doubt is in either herself or the Church. With no proof of Father Flynn's guilt or innocence, the audience is left with its own doubt.<ref> In an April 2025 interview in ''New York Magazine'', Cherry Jones (who played Sister Aloysius onstage in the original theatrical production of the 2005 play ''Doubt'') said that in 2010, she asked Doug Hughes (that play's original director) to finally tell her Father Flynn's backstory: "He said, 'Of course. What do you think it is?' And I said, 'It's whatever's the most fun for the actor to play, which would be that he had never touched a child but struggled every single day not to.' And Doug said, 'You're half-right. He hadn't ever touched a child at St. Nicholas, but he touched every child he could get his hands on in every parish he'd been sent to before.' You could have blown me over with a feather. I felt my pulse drop. I had never thought that. It made me really proud of Sister Aloysius, defending her flock from the wolf." {{Cite web |last=Alter |first=Rebecca |date=April 7, 2025 |title=Good God, It Was Fun!' Barbra Streisand, Liza Minnelli, Dick Van Dyke, and more legends of Broadway reprise their most memorable characters: Cherry Jones As Sister Aloysius in Doubt |url=https://www.vulture.com/article/biggest-broadway-stars-legends-actors-actresses-interviews.html |access-date=April 10, 2025 |website=Vulture}}</ref>

==Cast==
{| class="wikitable"
! rowspan="2" |Character
!Broadway 
![[Doubt (2008 film)|Film Adaptation]]
!Broadway Revival 
|-
!<small>2005</small>
!<small>2008</small>
!<small>2024</small>
|-
!Sister Aloysius
| align="center" , |[[Cherry Jones]]||align="center"|[[Meryl Streep]]||align="center"|[[Amy Ryan]]
|-
!Father Flynn
| align="center" |[[Brían F. O'Byrne]]||align="center"|[[Philip Seymour Hoffman]]||align="center"|[[Liev Schreiber]]
|-
!Sister James
| align="center" |[[Heather Goldenhersh]]||align="center"|[[Amy Adams]]||align="center"|[[Zoe Kazan]]
|-
!Mrs. Muller
| align="center" |[[Adriane Lenox]]||align="center"|[[Viola Davis]]||align="center"|[[Quincy Tyler Bernstine]]
|-
|}

'''Characters'''
* Sister Aloysius Beauvier: The head nun and principal of St Nicholas School. Driven by a high sense of duty but rigid and conservative.
* Father Brendan Flynn: A middle-aged priest. Articulate and personable.
* [[Margaret McEntee|Sister James]]: A young impressionable nun. Enthusiastic but inexperienced teacher.
* Mrs. Muller: The mother of Donald Muller, the school's first black student.

==Productions==
{{sources|section|date = February 2020}}
The [[New York City]] production, directed by [[Doug Hughes]], was performed in a one-act performance running approximately ninety minutes. In interviews, the cast said the second act took place when the audience left the theatre and began to discuss their differing opinions of the events, with some people agreeing with Aloysius and others siding with Flynn. Upon publication, Shanley changed the title from ''Doubt'' to ''Doubt: A Parable''. The four original cast members were [[Cherry Jones]] as Sister Aloysius, [[Brían F. O'Byrne]] as Father Flynn, [[Heather Goldenhersh]] as Sister James, and [[Adriane Lenox]] as Mrs. Muller.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A3514-2004Dec15.html |newspaper=The Washington Post |title=An Unshakable 'Doubt' |first=Peter |last=Marks |date=December 16, 2004}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://theater2.nytimes.com/2004/11/24/theater/reviews/24doub.html |work=The New York Times |title=A Nun Who Is Certain, Even If Truth Is Not |date=November 4, 2004 |first=Ben |last=Brantley |author-link=Ben Brantley}}</ref> This production had scenic design by [[John Lee Beatty]], costume design by Catherine Zuber, lighting design by Pat Collins, and original music and sound design by [[David Van Tieghem]].

In 2006, [[Eileen Atkins]], [[Ron Eldard]], and [[Jena Malone]] joined the cast and replaced Jones, O'Byrne, and Goldenhersh, respectively. In the fall of 2006, Jones headed the national touring company, consisting of [[Chris McGarry]], Lisa Joyce, and Caroline Stefanie Clay. ''Doubt'' won the 2007 [[Touring Broadway Awards|Touring Broadway Award]] as Best Play.

The West Coast premiere was directed by [[Claudia Weill]] and took place at the [[Pasadena Playhouse]]. Another production was staged at Rubicon Theatre Company in Ventura, California in 2010. It was directed by Artistic Associate Jenny Sullivan and starred [[Joseph Fuqua]] as Father Flynn and [[Robin Pearson Rose]] as Sister Aloysius.

In 2007, the play was staged in [[Venezuela]], in the Cellarg Theatre, with Elba Escobar, Luigi Sciamanna, Mariaca Semprun and Beatriz Vazquez.

The Australian premiere was mounted at the [[Sydney Opera House]] by the Sydney Theatre Company on February 4, 2006. The cast included Alison Bell, Jennifer Flowers, and Christopher Garbardi, and was directed by Julian Meyrick. This was followed by the Asian debut of ''Doubt'' in [[Singapore]] on March 21, 2006, by ACTION Theatre, directed by Samantha Scott-Blackhall, with Nora Samosir as Sister Aloysius, Lim Yu-Beng as Father Flynn and Pam Oei as Sister James.  The next production was in the [[Philippines]] on June 2, 2006. Doubt ran at the Auckland Theater Company in New Zealand, from March 16 to April 8, 2006, directed by [[Colin McColl (director)|Colin McColl]], with [[Latham Gaines]] as Father Flynn, [[Elizabeth Hawthorne]] as Sister Aloysius, Kate Prior as Sister James and Goretti Chadwick as Mrs Muller.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/CU0603/S00049.htm |work=Scoop |date=March 3, 2006 |access-date=June 2, 2008 |title=Auckland Theatre Company presents Doubt}}</ref>

In the [[Czech Republic]], the play was premiered in 2007 by  [[National Theatre (Prague)|National Theatre]] in [[Prague]] with Jaromíra Mílová, Jan Novotný, Magdaléna Borová and Eva Salzmannová. In 2012 it was staged by a Czech non-professional theater group<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.soliteater.cz |title=Soliteater homepage}}</ref> with Andrea Jeřábková, Libor Ulovec, Lucie Koderová and Martha Coutin Caicedo in the roles. The latter was awarded the Best Czech Non-Professional Drama Performance 2012.

The play was staged in the [[Philippines]] in 2006 by Atlantis Productions. This production starred [[Cherie Gil]] as Sister Aloysius and played at the Carlos P. Romulo Theater at the [[RCBC Plaza Yuchengco Tower|RCBC Plaza]] in June 2006.<ref>{{cite news |first=Boy |last=Abunda |title=Cherie Gil Sheds Villaness Persona for Doubt |url=http://www.newsflash.org/2004/02/sb/sb004074.htm |date=May 31, 2006 |publisher=Philippine Star & Philippine Headline News Online |access-date=December 16, 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081219005611/http://www.newsflash.org/2004/02/sb/sb004074.htm |archive-date=December 19, 2008}}</ref>

The play premiered in the UK at London's [[Kiln Theatre]] (known then as Tricycle Theatre). Directed by [[Nicolas Kent]], it starred [[Dearbhla Molloy]] as Sister Aloysius, [[Nikki Amuka-Bird]] as Mrs Muller, [[Padraic Delaney]] as Father Flynn and Marcella Plunkett as Sister James.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://westend.broadwayworld.com/viewcolumn.cfm?colid=23210 |title=Photo Flash: 'Doubt' |date=November 23, 2007 |work=Broadway World}}</ref> The production ran from November 22, 2007, to January 12, 2008.

The play was directed by [[Roman Polanski]] during its run at the [[Théâtre Hébertot]] in [[Paris]] in late 2006. In April 2007, it was staged in [[Warsaw]], [[Poland]], by producer [[Gene Gutowski]], at Polonia Theatre.

A production directed by Mel Hooley with [[Zimbabwe]]an actors Kevin Hanssen and Anne Fischer was staged at [[Dorchester, Dorset|Dorchester]] Arts in [[Dorset]] from August 19–21, 2010, supported by the [[British Council]].

A production opened in Sydney, Australia, at the [[Old Fitzroy Theatre]] on May 12, 2017. The cast, Belinda Giblin (Sister Aloysius), Matilda Ridgway (Sister James), Damian de Montemas (Father Flynn) and [[Charmaine Bingwa]] (Mrs Muller), was directed by Dino Dimitriadis.

On June 1, 2023, the [[Roundabout Theatre Company]] announced that the play would receive its first Broadway revival at the [[Todd Haimes Theatre]] as part of its 2023–2024 season, starring [[Tyne Daly]] as Sister Aloysius and [[Liev Schreiber]] as Father Flynn.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Doubt: A Parable |url=https://www.roundabouttheatre.org/get-tickets/2023-2024-season/doubt-a-parable/ |access-date=June 1, 2023 |website=www.roundabouttheatre.org |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Harms |first=Talaura |date=June 1, 2023 |title=Tony Winners Tyne Daly and Liev Shreiber Will Return to Broadway in Doubt: A Parable |url=https://www.playbill.com/article/tony-winners-tyne-daly-and-liev-shreiber-will-return-to-broadway-in-doubt-a-parable |access-date=June 1, 2023 |website=Playbill}}</ref> However, the first preview was cancelled, and on February 6, 2024, it was announced that Daly had to exit the production due to hospitalization. [[Isabel Keating]], Daly's understudy, took over the role until February 11, 2024, with [[Amy Ryan]] assuming the role full time on February 13, 2024.<ref>{{cite web |title=Tyne Daly Exiting Broadway Revival of Doubt; Amy Ryan Taking Over – The Roundabout Theatre Company revival of John Patrick Shanley's play began previews February 3. |url=https://www.playbill.com/article/tyne-daly-exiting-broadway-revival-of-doubt-amy-ryan-taking-over |first=Logan |last=Culwell-Brock |work=Playbill |date=February 6, 2024 |access-date=February 6, 2024}}</ref><ref name="NYT-20240307">{{cite news |last=Green |first=Jesse |title=Review: In 'Doubt,' What He Knows, She Knows, God Knows – Liev Schreiber and Amy Ryan star in a revival of John Patrick Shanley's moral head spinner about pride, the priesthood and presumptions of pedophilia. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/07/theater/doubt-review.html |date=March 7, 2024 |work=[[The New York Times]] |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20240308034825/https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/07/theater/doubt-review.html |archive-date=March 8, 2024 |access-date=March 10, 2024}}</ref>

==Awards and nominations==
<!-- Non-performance awards only -->
===2005 Broadway production===
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="width: 99%;"
|-
! scope="col" style="width:5%;"| Year
! scope="col" style="width:20%;"| Award
! scope="col" style="width:38%;"| Category
! scope="col" style="width:22%;"| Nominee
! scope="col" style="width:10%;"| Result
|-
| rowspan="15" align="center"| 2005
| rowspan="8"| [[59th Tony Awards|Tony Awards]]
| colspan="2"| [[Tony Award for Best Play|Best Play]]
| {{won}}
|-
| [[Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play|Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play]]
| [[Brían F. O'Byrne]]
| {{nom}}
|-
| [[Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play|Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play]]
| [[Cherry Jones]]
| {{won}}
|-
| rowspan="2"| [[Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play|Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play]]
| [[Heather Goldenhersh]]
| {{nom}}
|-
| [[Adriane Lenox]]
| {{won}}
|-
| [[Tony Award for Best Direction of a Play|Best Direction of a Play]]
| [[Doug Hughes]]
| {{won}}
|-
| [[Tony Award for Best Scenic Design in a Play|Best Scenic Design in a Play]]
| [[John Lee Beatty]]
| {{nom}}
|-
| [[Tony Award for Best Lighting Design in a Play|Best Lighting Design in a Play]]
| [[Pat Collins (lighting designer)|Pat Collins]]
| {{nom}}
|-
| rowspan="5"| [[Drama Desk Award]]s
| colspan="2"| [[Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Play|Outstanding New Play]]
| {{won}}
|-
| [[Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actor in a Play|Outstanding Actor in a Play]]
| Brían F. O'Byrne
| {{won}}
|-
| [[Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actress in a Play|Outstanding Actress in a Play]]
| Cherry Jones
| {{won}}
|-
| [[Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play|Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play]]
| Adriane Lenox
| {{won}}
|-
| [[Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Director of a Play|Outstanding Director of a Play]]
| Doug Hughes
| {{won}}
|-
| [[Pulitzer Prize]]
| [[Pulitzer Prize for Drama|Drama]]
| [[John Patrick Shanley]]
| {{win}}
|-
| colspan="2"| [[Theatre World Award]]
| Heather Goldenhersh
| {{won}}
|}

===2024 Broadway revival===
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="width: 99%;"
|-
! scope="col" style="width:5%;"| Year
! scope="col" style="width:20%;"| Award
! scope="col" style="width:38%;"| Category
! scope="col" style="width:22%;"| Nominee
! scope="col" style="width:10%;"| Result
|-
| rowspan="3" align="center"| 2024
| rowspan="3"| [[Tony Awards]]
|[[Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play|Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play]]
|[[Liev Schreiber]]
|{{nominated}}
|-
|[[Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play|Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play]]
|[[Amy Ryan]]
|{{nom}}
|-
|[[Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play|Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play]]
|[[Quincy Tyler Bernstine]]
|{{nom}}
|}

==Adaptations==
A [[Doubt (2008 film)|2008 film adaptation]] by [[Miramax]] stars [[Meryl Streep]] as Sister Aloysius, [[Philip Seymour Hoffman]] as Father Flynn, [[Amy Adams]] as Sister James and [[Viola Davis]] as Mrs. Miller (the name was changed in the film). Production began on December 1, 2007, with playwright John Patrick Shanley directing and [[Scott Rudin]] producing.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.playbill.com/news/article/107473.html |work=Playbill |date=April 19, 2007 |access-date=April 19, 2007 |title=Meryl Streep and Philip Seymour Hoffman to Star in ''Doubt'' Film |first=Zachary |last=Pincus-Roth |author-link=Zachary Pincus-Roth |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070427222114/http://www.playbill.com/news/article/107473.html |archive-date=April 27, 2007}}</ref>

An [[Doubt (opera)|opera based on the play]], commissioned by the [[Minnesota Opera]], premiered in 2013, with music by [[Douglas J. Cuomo]] to a [[libretto]] by Shanley.

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Bibliography==
* {{cite book |last=Shanley |first=John Patrick |title=Doubt: A Parable |location=New York |publisher=Theatre Communications |year=2005 |isbn=978-1-55936-276-4}}

==External links==
* {{IBDB show}}
* {{IOBDB title}}
* [https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-production/doubt-537819 ''Doubt: A Parable''] at the [[Roundabout Theater Company]], (Spring, 2024)
{{John Patrick Shanley|state=expanded}}
{{Navboxes
|title= Awards for ''Doubt: A Parable''
|list=
{{DramaDesk Play 2001–2025}}
{{Pulitzer Prize for Drama 2001-2025}}
{{TonyAwardBestPlay 2001-2025}}
}}

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