Sunday, April 20, 2008
A+E, Theater, Reviews
No easy answers
Riveting, top-notch productions masterfully pose hard questions
CREDIT: Greg Mooney
Thomas Piper and Pamela Nyberg star in “Doubt” at the Alliance Theatre.
“DOUBT”
Alliance Theatre
$21-$50
404-733-5000
www.alliancetheatre.org
Through May 4
“IN DARFUR”
Horizon Theatre
$15-$30
404-584-7450
www.horizontheatre.com
Through May 11
BY BERT OSBORNE
First off, the Alliance Theatre’s sharply mounted “Doubt” and Horizon Theatre’s vividly realized “In Darfur” rank among the season’s very best productions—staged by two of the city’s most exciting directors, working at the top of their game: Susan Booth (“Thom Pain”) and Lisa Adler (“9 Parts of Desire”), respectively. So let’s get the minor criticisms out of the way up front, because in both cases they mainly involve the writing (as opposed to the execution) of the scripts.
That’s not to imply there isn’t a good reason John Patrick Shanley won a Pulitzer Prize and a Tony for “Doubt.” He’s crafted a taut, thought-provoking drama pitting a “progressive” priest against an “intolerant” nun. Or is it an “improper” priest and a “righteous” nun? The gripping power of the play is you never can tell. Never. In a bristling exchange of spiritual and psychological ideas, Father Flynn (Thomas Piper) and Sister Aloysius (Pamela Nyberg) basically compete for the soul—or at least the “peace of mind”—of the “excessively innocent” Sister James (Cara Mantella). In the process, they’re also challenging the audience to take sides, and then daring us to stay put.
But Shanley overdoes it, in a sense. Not only do suspicions of sexual abuse surface involving Flynn and one of the (unseen) kids at their Bronx boys’ school; the child also happens to be the only black student. And not only that—his mother (Donna Biscoe) later raises other concerns about her son’s own “nature” and “inclination.” The cumulative effect is slightly heavy, as is the tendency of Shanley’s characters to talk about such sensitive issues with a candor and awareness that sounds more like 2004 (when he wrote it) than 1964 (when it’s set).
Winter Miller’s “In Darfur” takes place right now, amid the ongoing genocide in the Sudan. Your initial reaction could be to fault the drama for dealing with its African tragedy through the eyes of a white outsider (or two). Interestingly, the play’s fictitious New York Times writer (Elizabeth Wells Berkes) has a similar debate with her editor (Yvonne Singh) about how to make the story palatable for their cultivated readers. Miller fashions an undeniably compelling thriller, to be sure, even though it’s as much about journalistic ethics as about a humanitarian cause, centered as much on the reporter’s relationship with an American aid worker (Eric Mendenhall) as on the Darfuri woman (Michele McCullough Hazard) she’s writing about.
Adler brings a startling urgency to the production, enhanced by Jessica Coale’s ever-impressive lighting and especially by Chris Bartelski’s harrowing sound design—one minute the theater vibrates with explosions and gunfire, and in the next all you hear are flies quietly buzzing around the dead bodies. Usually cast as more delicate creatures (whether it’s “Summer and Smoke” or “Steve Martin’s The Underpants”), Berkes projects the fierce determination of this character with skill and conviction. Likewise, Mendenhall, best known for his comedic roles (“Comparing Books”), also plays against type and excels as the conscientious medic.
In its own cloistered manner (set by Todd Rosenthal), Booth’s “Doubt” is no less riveting. While the Horizon show depicts the “adrenalin rush of a war zone,” the Alliance drama focuses on the intimate “dictates” of the heart and soul. Booth dissects its many layers with a brisk precision, and the nuanced performances are top-notch. Piper (“One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest”) is particularly masterful reading between the lines of Flynn’s various sermons, and Mantella (“The Last Night of Ballyhoo”) has never been better.
Posing incisive questions rather than providing easy answers, both “Doubt” and “In Darfur” reward their audiences—as bold theatrical productions, above all, but with the added distinction of encouraging us to think and feel for ourselves and draw our own conclusions. SP
Posted by
Henry Pollitz on
Monday, April 21, 2008 at 12:27 PM:
I've been to various plays recently around town and Chris Bartelski has got to be one of the best sound designers around! Great work Chris!