(James Alexander & Fiona Ramsay)
Outstanding production of a beautifully crafted play. (Review
by Keith Millar)
The mission of The Playhouse Company’s New Stages
Festival is to provide opportunities for South African productions that, as
entertainment, are creative, original and, thought-provoking.
Well, with the outstanding production Doubt, which is on at the Loft Theatre
this weekend, they have hit the mark. In so doing, they are demonstrating just
how good South African Theatre can be.
Written 10 years
ago by Johan Patrick Shanley the multi-award winning Doubt is a beautifully crafted play which displays elegance,
subtlety and intensity.
The story is set at
the fictional St Nicholas Catholic Church School in the Bronx in 1964. The
school’s principal; is the uncompromising, rigidly conservative, Sister
Aloysius. She feels deep mistrust for the parish priest, Father Flynn, who she
suspects may be trying to form a relationship with one of her pupils. To
complicate matters, the pupil Donald Muller is the school’s first African-
American pupil.
Sister Aloysius
browbeats a young nun, Sister James, into spying for her. James is an
impressionable and naive young lady who is easily intimidated by her
headmistress.
When Sister James
reports on a mysterious meeting between Father Flynn and Donald Muller, Aloysius
feels that her suspicions are confirmed. Especially since Muller came back from
the meeting smelling of alcohol. This puts her in direct conflict with Father
Flynn who denies any wrongdoing and offers
plausible explanations.
The inflexible
protocol and hierarchy of the Catholic Church complicates her dealings with
Father Flynn.
Not to be deterred,
Aloysius calls in Muller’s mother for a meeting. The mother offers a different
perspective and appears to be willing to turn a blind eye if only her son can
complete his education and be saved him from the wrath of an abusive father.
The only thing all
these characters have in common is doubt. They struggle with their beliefs and
values and find that they have difficulties living with their certainties.
Doubt is an intense and harrowing story which is made more poignant by recent
cases of sexual misconduct in the Catholic Church. The audience is left with
plenty to think of, and talk about, as they try to come to terms with their own
doubts.
In the role of
Sister Aloysius, Fiona Ramsay is absolutely convincing and very human. She
gives an astonishing, tour de force
performance, which will live in the memory for a long time. Janna
Ramos-Violante is very good as the vulnerable and impressionable Sister James -
another fine performance to add to her impressive CV. James Alexander as Father
Flynn is compelling while Faniswa Yisa makes the most of her brief appearance
as Donald Miller’s mother.
James Cuningham’s
direction is assured and confident and plays a major role in the brilliance of
this production.
Doubt serves as a timely reminder of why we love theatre. We all crave to see
the creativity, passion, dedication, talent and sheer skill inherent in all
brilliant productions. Doubt, without
a doubt, ticks all those boxes.
Catch the final performances
of Doubt at the Loft Theatre at the Playhouse
tomorrow (Sunday May 4) at 14h30. Tickets at R55 available from Computicket. - Keith Millar