Theater Review: Doubt and Grace Raise Questions About Religious Faith

Religious faith and sex seem to be hot topics today in the newspapers and on stage. Recent events in Los Angeles (Kaiser Permanente and former L.A. Deputy Mayor Troy Edwards) and in Washington, D.C. (Mark Foley and ex-pages) have made John Patrick Shanley's Doubt, now playing at the Ahmanson, more universal, while Craig Wright's Grace at the Carrie Hamilton Theatre, superficially seems to support the general negative appraisal of ardently religious Christians.

Doubt, which was part of the 2005 Pasadena Playhouse season featuring Linda Hunt, opened on Broadway during the Playhouse run with a different cast and director. The production garnered Shanley, who already had an Oscar for the 1987 Moonstruck, a Pulitzer, and a Tony, as well as Tonys for director Doug Hughes and star Cherry Jones.

Doubt asks, through the character of Father Flynn (Chris McGarry), "What do you do when you're not sure?" and what should you do if "you look for God's direction but cannot find it?" Wright's Grace, a less polished script served well by a passionate production, seems to ask, “How can you be so sure of God's direction?”

Taking place in the autumn of 1964 at St. Nicholas Church School in the Bronx, Doubt shows an experienced and slightly dour Sister Aloysius (Jones) questioning the younger, more optimistic Sister James (Lisa Joyce), cautioning her that "Good teachers are not content." Aloysius suspects Flynn has taken a sexual interest in the school's first African American student and she isn't content doing nothing, even if the student's mother (Adriane Lenox) would rather let things be.

In today's America, Shanley's play is now less about the Catholic Church and more about the powerful men who allow other men to continue to victimize until the allegations are made public.

In Grace, presented by the Furious Theatre Company, it's easy to laugh at the fervent religiousness of Steve (Brad Price) as he comes home to his wife Sara (Sara Hennessy) with good news, proof that "the principles work" if you are a "prayer warrior" because you need only "plant the seed" and "let God lead."

Article Author: Purple Tigress

Former theater critic for the LA Weekly and Los Angeles Times . For the last five years, an editing slave at a dot-com but recently laid off. Currently an under-employed freelance writer and artist.

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