Doubt
Theater - Terry Byrne, guest contributor
Doubt, that gnawing, unnerving feeling of uncertainty, seeps out over the Colonial Theatre audience like a fine mist. “Doubt,” the Pulitzer Prize and Tony award-winning drama by John Patrick Shanley has arrived in Boston with an intensity unmatched by any drama seen around here in a long time. The greatness of this play was not measured by the level of applause at the end, but by the breathless silence that came over the crowd as the story unfolded.
The truth is it’s hard to imagine being drawn in to a drama about a priest suspected of pedophilia. Here in Boston, we’re worn down by the shame and disappointed and disgusted by the Catholic Church’s response. Besides, the same John Patrick Shanley who wrote the romantic comedy “Moonstruck” some 20 years ago also wrote this. But “Doubt” plumbs a rich well of compassion, torment and guilt that gives this tale an unexpected richness. Shanley also layers his story with other conflicts, including racism, sexism, intolerance and petty gossip, that ratchet up the tension yet feel so painfully familiar even if you never set foot in a Catholic church or school.
