Doubt: A Parable

“Truth tends to make a bad sermon...” says the accused priest in John Patrick Shanley’s achingly taut Doubt. Set in 1964, at a Bronx Catholic School, Doubt tells the story of a strong-minded nun who wrestles with her conscience in the face of concerns about one of the priests. Sister Aloysius reveals her initial doubts about the enigmatic Father Flynn to Sister James, an inexperienced but enthusiastic young nun. As her suspicions grow about his inappropriate behavior with the school’s first black student, a verbal battle of wills begins and she instigates a relentless campaign to remove the priest. Doubt ran for 2 years on Broadway and in 2005 won a Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award for Best New Play. John Patrick Shanley also wrote the Oscar-winning screenplay for Moonstruck.