Doubt; A Parable
By John Patrick Shanley
Basic Facts
Author-John Patrick Shanley
Structure- Nine Scenes
Cast breakdown- 1M, 3W
Approximate Running Time- 90 min. without intermission
Genre- Drama
Biography of John Patrick Shanley-
"Born in 1950, Shanley grew up the youngest of five children in an Irish-Catholic family whose home was in the Bronx neighborhood of East Tremont. His father, a meatpacker, was an Irish immigrant, while Shanley's mother was herself the daughter of Irish immigrants. The East Tremont streets were home to similar working-class Irish and Italian families. "It was extremely anti-intellectual and extremely racist and none of this fit me," the play-wright revealed in an interview with Alex Witchel that appeared in the New York Times Magazine. He recalled being "in constant fistfights from the time I was six," though he asserted he rarely picked the fight himself. "People would look at me and become enraged at the sight of me," he explained. "I believe that the reason was they could see that I saw them." http://www.notablebiographies.com/newsmakers2/2006-Ra-Z/Shanley-John-Patrick.html
Publication info- Dramatist Play services
Licensing and Rights- Dramatist Play Service, 75$ per performance
Exegesis
1) incommunicable- impossible to be communicated
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/incommunicable
2) parable- a simple story illustrating a moral or religious lesson
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/parable
3) rectory- an official residence provided by a church for its parson or vicar or rector
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/rectory
4) Mother Seton- " Founder and first supereior of the Sister's of Charity in the United States; born in New York City, 28 Aug., 1774 of non-Catholic parents of high position..." http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/13739a.htm
Before taking her vow , she was married and bore five children.
5) Monsignor-, pl. monsignori, is the form of address for those members of the clergy of the Roman Catholic Church holding certain Eccliestiastical honorrific titles. Monsignor is the apocopic form of the Italian monsignore, from the French mon seigneur, meaning "my lord". In English, it is abbreviated Msgr. or Mons. In French, it is abbreviated Mgr (without the period/full stop)
http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/monsigner
6) St. Patrick- "Apostle of Ireland, born at Kilpatrick, near Dumbarton, in Scotland, in the year 387; died at Saul, Downpatrick, Ireland, 17 March, 461."
http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=89
7) St. Anthony -Founder of christian monoasticism ( devoting ones life to spiritual work and not wordly persuits; nuns and monks are example of this)
http://derdo.files.wordpress.com/2008/06/st-anthony2.jpg
St. Anthony and St. Patrick are of Italian and Irish descent which is probably the majority of this catholic congregation is as well. With the presence of the first African American student this could mean something to what and how the students and the church preceives him.
8) Altar boys- boys serving as an acolyte ( someone who assists a priest or minister in a liturgical service; a cleric ordained in the highest of the minor orders in the Roman Catholic Church but not in the Anglican Church)
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/Altar+Boys
9) St. Nicholas- The name of the Catholic church and school in the play. He was a Greek Bishop and is known for his charitable nature of giving to the less fortunate.
http://amostwonderfultime.ning.com/profiles/profile/show?id=Alexandria
10) scruples-An uneasy feeling arising from conscience or principle that tends to hinder action
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/scruple
Fable
The play starts in St. Nicholas catholic school, a sermon from Father Flynn is done. Sister Aloysius is having a conversation with one of the new school teachers, Sister James. Sister James has come to see about a student that had left due to a nose bleed. Sister Aloysius begins by askingSister James about some of her current students. She ask questions about their academic progress and she is specifically interested in the new African American student that has began classes at the school. She makes remarks about how she should keep a close eye on him because some of the other students. Her reasoning is that they might not understand why he is there due to the majority of the churches congregation being of Italian and Irish descent. Sister James reassures her that he is doing fine, but Sister Aloysius seems not content with any of the answers Sister James is giving her. She pries into the situations and the classroom settings more trying to give her input on how everything should be ran. Her philosophy seems to be discipline more than knowledge. Sister Aloysius seems to have some suspicion about the new Priest and his interactions with the students. Sister James slowly reveals an event that happened between the Priest and the new student Donald Muller. She accounts that the priest brought him to his rectory to spend time and talk with him. She also reveals that his breath may have smelled like wine and he was acting a little strange. Sister Aloysius almost seems satisfied that her speculations were correct, she begins thinking about how she could approach the situation. She tells Sister James that she will have to be present when she confronts the Priest about the information. Sister James of course is not comfortable with confronting the Priest about such information and actually begins to try and question of her own accounts truth.
Later on they Sisters’ do in fact meet with the Priest, he thinks they are meeting about the yearly Christmas pageant. Coffee is offered to him by Sister Aloysius and she ask Sister James to poor it. When asked how much sugar he wanted his response was not approvable to Sister Aloysius. She was judging his self control and monitoring his every move. He begins by asking what if the performed a secular song this year for Christmas such as “Frosty the Snowman”. Again he meets the disapproval by Sister Aloysius. She then starts to pry into his relations with the student and more specifically Donald Muller. He than begins to question the truth of why he was asked to come in for the meeting. Sister James is then asked to re-count the story she had told before. Flynn denies anything more than having an innocent heart- to –heart with the new student after he found him drinking the church wine. He says he hoped it would not have to come to this because if anyone else found out Donald would be remover from his position as an alter boy. Immediately Sister James is relieved and believes the truth of his story. Sister Aloysius on the other hand is not convinced one bit and is not afraid to hide it. Flynn leaves in a rage.
The next sermon the priest give a Parable over gossip and how you are not able to take back the things that come out of your mouth even if what you say has no truth. He uses a story about a women who is asked to go to her house, stab her pillow, and bring the empty in casement back to the priest. When she finished what he has asked he asked her what happened when she performed this, she responded with how the feathers went everywhere. The priest told her to go back home and put every feather back inside the original encasement. She said this was impossible due to how many flew away and that she would never be able to collect everyone.
Sister James and the Priest run into each other and have a conversation about how she believes him and his glad that he has her trust in the matter. She assures him Sister Aloysius will not the matter go.
Sister Aloysius calls Donald Muller’s mother in for a conversation about the speculated situation . She begins by asking how her son had been acting, immediately she told of how he looked up to the priest and was so devastated that Donald had been removed from his position as an alter boy. Slowly Sister Aloysius unravels her beliefs of the inappropriate interaction between the priest and Donald. Mrs. Muller begins to talk about how grateful she was that Donald was able to attend school at the church because of the opportunities that it may give him. She said that he was graduating in a few months and he could stick out anything until that time. Sister Aloysius is of coursed alarmed at the response of the mother. She tells her something needs to be done about the situation but his mother refuses to give in. She admits that his father is not found of her son and thinks that he may be a homosexual. She says that any kind of attention that is given to Donald by the Priest is better than nothing. The mother leaves upset with the meeting. Just as she leaves the priest comes into Sister Aloysius office to see what was going on.
Sister Aloysius says she has contacted the other church that he was at before and asked why he had moved around so much in a such a short time. He tells her that she did not approach the situation in the correct manor. Slowly he starts to feel helpless and desperate asking her what will he do with his love for God and Priesthood if he leaves there. She tells him that he needs to leave the church if wants to protect him name. He does in fact leave the church.
All though the story was made up just to see if he would fall under pressure, her wish is fulfilled. Sister Aloysius meets with Sister James and gives her the news. Sister James is shocked and once again pulled back to the other side of the truth. But in the closing line Sister Aloysius still admits that she now has some DOUBT about what really happened.
Plot Summary
Act 1
The first act of Doubt consists of a sermon by Father Flynn. His theme is uncertainty, which he relates to the disorientation felt by most of the country the year before, when President John F. Kennedy was assassinated. He points out how people came together spiritually and concludes that despair does not have to be an experience that isolates people, if they have faith. To make his point, Father Flynn tells a story about a sailor, lost at sea, who uses his memory of the stars to guide his navigation, even when the stars are covered by clouds for more than twenty nights. The sailor's faith in the truth he once knew is likened to the despairing person's faith in God.
Act 2
Sister Aloysius, the principal of St. Nicholas School, meets in her office with Sister James, who teaches eighth grade. She asks about a boy who has been sent home with a bleeding nose and warns that children sometimes inflict their own injuries as a way to leave school. During the conversation, Sister Aloysius reveals her dislike of teachers who act kind in order to hide their own weakness or laziness.
The talk turns to whether Sister James stays in the room when the "specialty" instructors — those in charge of teaching art, music, physical education, and similar subjects — come in. In particular, Sister Aloysius is interested in whether Sister James leaves the boys alone when Father Flynn teaches religion and physical education. She asks Sister James to be alert, but she cannot find it in herself to be more specific about what she suspects.
Act 3
Act 3 comprises another monologue by Father Flynn, addressing the boys during basketball. He tells them that they will be able to shoot better if they relax and quit thinking about how they might look. On the subject of personal hygiene, he tells an apocryphal story about a boy with whom he grew up, named Timmy Mathisson, who had dirty fingernails that he put in his nose and in his mouth, which resulted in his death from spinal meningitis.
Act 4
Sister Aloysius and Sister James meet in the garden. Sister James explains that the boys in her class are at a lecture, given by Father Flynn, on the subject of being a man. Sister James explains that the new African American boy in her class, Donald Muller, does not have to worry much about bullying from the other students, because Father Flynn has taken on a role as his special protector. Immediately, Sister Aloysius says that she thinks Father Flynn is planning inappropriate behavior with the vulnerable boy. Sister James recalls that Father Flynn took Donald for a private talk to the rectory and that, when he came back, Donald had alcohol on his breath.
Sister Aloysius explains that it would be difficult to have a priest removed, even if there was evidence that he had had sex with a student. Father Flynn would certainly deny any such allegation, and Monsignor Benedict would believe whatever Father Flynn said. The rules of the Church prohibit a nun from taking suspicions to any higher authority. The boy would not talk, intimidated by shame. Sister Aloysius tells Sister James that she is going to confront Father Flynn and will need Sister James there as a witness.
Act 5
Father Flynn arrives at the door of Sister Aloysius's office, but the rules forbid a priest and a nun to be in a room alone. When Sister James arrives, Sister Aloysius serves tea. Father Flynn thinks that the meeting is about the Christmas pageant. Sister Aloysius mentions Donald Muller, saying that she knows that he has given the boy "special attention" and that Donald behaved strangely when he returned to class. Father Flynn, feeling accused, starts to walk out when Sister Aloysius mentions the smell of alcohol on the boy's breath. He explains that Donald had been caught by the caretaker drinking altar wine and that he was trying to spare the boy exposure.
After Father Flynn leaves, Sister Aloysius explains to Sister James that she thinks he was lying. Sister James vigorously defends him, accusing Sister Aloysius of simply disliking him, but Sister Aloysius dismisses her defense as being grounded in youthful naïveté. Sister Aloysius phones the boy's parents and asks them to come to the school for a meeting.
Act 6
Father Flynn gives a sermon about intolerance. He tells the story of a woman who, while gossiping with a friend, sees a hand over her head. She goes to her priest, and he tells her that it is a sign of God's displeasure. He instructs her to go home, take a pillow onto the roof, slash it with a knife, and empty it out. When she returns, the priest tells her to go and gather up all of the feathers that came from the pillow. She explains that she cannot, that they scattered to the winds. The priest in Father Flynn's story explains that gossip, once it is out, cannot be recalled either.
Act 7
Father Flynn meets Sister James while she is praying in the same garden that was the setting of act 4. She has had trouble sleeping, feeling guilty about being a gossip, like the woman in Father Flynn's sermon. Father Flynn speaks comfortingly, telling her that she is free to make up her own mind about him and is not obliged to follow whatever Sister Aloysius thinks. When she asks, he tells her directly that Sister Aloysius's allegations are not true. Father Flynn contrasts his own philosophy, which emphasizes love and concern, with Sister Aloysius's philosophy of strictness and discipline. Before she leaves, Sister James tells him that she does not believe that he is guilty.
Act 8
Sister Aloysius has a conference with Donald's mother. Mrs. Muller explains that she and her husband expected Donald to have trouble at St. Nicholas, being the first black student there, and they were glad that Father Flynn was looking out for him. Mrs. Muller is focused on Donald's staying through the end of the school year, which will give him a chance at being accepted into a good high school. When Sister Aloysius expresses concern about Father Flynn, Mrs. Muller takes a defensive posture: she knows that, in the event of a public inquiry, Donald, not the priest, would be blamed. She decides that it would be better for the boy, even if Father Flynn is using him sexually, to stay at St. Nicholas until graduation.
When she leaves, Father Flynn comes in, furious. He ignores the rule that states that a priest and nun cannot be alone in a room and slams the door behind him, demanding to know why Donald Muller's mother was there. He goes through the evidence of his misbehavior and discredits each charge, until Sister Aloysius says that she has talked to a nun at his last parish. Father Flynn raises objections — that she should have gone through the parish pastor, that there is no evidence in his official record of inappropriate behavior, and so forth — but Sister Aloysius insists that she knows he has taken advantage of boys. When she starts to leave to report him to higher authorities, he stops her and listens to her demands to leave St. Nicholas. When she does leave, he phones the bishop to ask to be reassigned.
Act 9
Sister Aloysius and Sister James meet and talk in the garden. Father Flynn has been moved to another parish, but with a promotion to pastor. Sister Aloysius was unable to convince Monsignor Benedict of Father Flynn's inappropriate behavior, but she is sure of his guilt. She feels guilty herself, because, to get him to leave, she lied about having contacted someone at his previous parish, a bluff that evidently frightened him away.
http://www.answers.com/topic/doubt-play-2
Characters
Father Brendan Flynn- Catholic Priest at St. Nicholas school and church. He is in his late thirties. He is fairly new to the priesthood and is very personable with the students and the congregation. He does not hold the same strict conservative values that older priest might hold on to and practice.
Sister Aloysius Beauvier- Catholic nun and St. Nicholas' schools principal, she is her fifties/ sixties. She is the head nun who keeps a close eye on the school and the relationships between the teachers. She is very intuitive and will stop at nothing to prove her suspicion of the priest.
Sister James- School teacher at the Catholic church, she is in her twenties and is very innocent. She can be preceived naive at times throughout the play and it is a constant tug- of- war between her beliefs in the priest and in Sister Aloysius.
Mrs. Muller- Mother of Donald Muller. She is an African American and is around thirty-eight. Her son is the first black student that has ever been admitted to the school and she will stop at nothing to try and keep him there til graduation, even if that means denying protection to her son.
Statement: "Characters and Casting"
For this play the non-traditional casting may be applied to the roles of the nuns and possibly father Flynn. Although the script does include last names of the nuns that could be used as a reference to their nationality, I do not believe that it is absolutely essential to have people of the European descent to play these roles. If I was casting for this particular script and not sure if I would be completely in to practice non-traditional casting only because of the historical time and my personal feeling of the play. I think the author had a very specific intent when writing the production and in order to be fair to that it would be tedious to cast non-traditionally. The possibility of Sister James being of Asian or Hispanic descent could be a possibility for this particular script. Since she is younger this leaves more possibilities of what race she could be. I think the only race that would take away from the message of the show would be African American casting in the roles of anyone else other than Mrs. Muller and Donald Muller. The older nun would be the more difficult of the two to use the practice of non traditional casting, because of her age and place in the church. In the Bronx during this time, the catholic church was majority Irish and I believe that this is historically important to the play but could be played with. For Father Flynn I think it would be a challenge to use non-traditional casting because of the history of the Catholic church . It is very important to the script that he be a younger priest so age would be important in the casting of Father Flynn. For the roles of Mrs. Muller and Donald Muller I do not think that the practice of non-traditional casting could possibly be applied to them. Since the script is very specific about the young boy and mother being African- American it would probably go against the authors intent to cast differently. Other aspects of non-traditional casting include the casting of people no matter if they are disabled or not. I think it could be a possibility to use any able person to play any of the four characters of the show no matter of a handicap or not. I think casting Sister Aloysius in wheel chair could be a possibility as well as a blind person. Since she is older in age all these things could potentially be a possibility and would not take away from the integrity of the show. For the other characters I think such possibilities could be explored as well. In my exploration of the casting I researched and read reviews of previous productions of “Doubt” and was unable to find the use of non-traditional casting in any of them. Maybe in time this will be explored more with this script, but for the current time it has not been as far as I can find.
Producing Organization- Manhatten Theatre Club
Producing Organization- Water Tower Theatre 
Producing Organization- Tricycle Theatre Company
Producing Organization- Syracuse Stage
Producing Organization -Olney Theatre Company
