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doubt: a parable
Hippodrome theatre review
by dick kerekes
dickkerekes@yahoo.com

      Gainesville’s Hippodrome State Theatre opened its 35th season with John Patrick Shanley’s Doubt, a Pulitzer Prize winner that also garnered seven Tony Awards, including Best Play. This play closes Sunday September 30th. All performances are in downtown Gainesville at 25 SE 2nd Place.

      The Hipp, as it is known in Gainesville, is a professional equity theatre. It has access to top New York plays more quickly than community groups. Although the Hipp does a variety of plays, it excels at intimate plays where the words are important, but so are gestures, glances, sighs and the smallest movements to advance the plot as well as the characters.
      Doubt is just such a play. Set in a New York Catholic school in l964, it is about a priest that may be carrying on an improper relationship with the only black student in the school. Sister Aloysius (brilliantly portrayed by Sara Morsey) is the school principal and a strict disciplinarian, who dislikes ballpoint pens, Christmas pageants, and clergy who get too friendly with their parishioners and students.
      Sister Aloysius dislikes Father Flynn (Michael Stewart Allen) the parish priest. Sister James (Kate Kertez) relates an incident to the principal where Father Flynn had a counseling session with Donald, a l2-year-old student, and Donald emerged from the meeting seemingly disturbed and with the smell of alcohol on his breath. Sister Aloysius becomes suspicious and believes Father Flynn has behaved inappropriately, and not for the first time.
      The principal begins a relentless attack on the priest. The investigation has Donald’s mother summoned to the school. The mother (Alecia Robinson) reveals an interesting twist to the plot. In the middle is Sister James, who likes and wants to support the priest, but lives in fear of the wrath of Sister Aloysius.
      That is as far as I will take you into the plot, and actually, the way the play is constructed, any conclusions are for you to decide. (Yes, go with friends, since you will certainly have a lively discussion after the show).
      As directed by a Hippodrome founder, Mary Haush, the three actors give masterful performances, and I could not imagine it being done any better on Broadway.
      Scenic Designer Carlos Francisco Asse is back at the Hippodrome. After being here for l5 years, he spent several years designing for other theatres in the state and nationwide. His set is drop- dead gorgeous, with a garden featuring a statue of St. Francis and the stone walls of the church, as well as the principal’s office.
      The play deals with child abuse, or the potential for child abuse, a topic that has very much been in the news and one that has certainly brought changes in our society. I recently read that the number of men going into the teaching profession has dropped significantly recently, due to the fear of dealing with children and having interactions that could be misinterpreted.
      Doubt reminded me very much of the play Proof. There is some humor, but both plays are challenging to audiences as they command your absolute attention and both amply reward you.
      If you’re an avid theatre buff, I hope that you will reward yourself with a trip to the Hipp sometime during the 2007-2008 season. Check them out on the web at thehipp.org.
      If you are looking for some lighter fare, mark October l9th, when Night of the Living Dead opens and runs through November 11th. If you’re dying for a laugh, check it out.

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