‘Doubt’ director respects drama’s ambiguity

It's difficult to deal fairly with "Doubt" without revealing some of the script's secrets. So, before you read on, I suggest you go see Nevada Conservatory Theatre's production of John Patrick Shanley's drama about a conflict between a priest and a nun because it's riveting, well-performed and well-directed. Then come back and we'll chat later. In other words, warning: Spoilers abound.

A nasty question is introduced early: Is Father Brendan Flynn (Eric Martin Brown), a young pastor at a 1964 Bronx Catholic elementary school, having an improper relationship with a 12-year-old boy?

The issue gets muddled by the accuser: 50ish Sister Aloysius Beauvier (Anne DeSalvo), a by-the-book eccentric who thinks Frosty the Snowman is a celebration of paganism.

The nun seems to be a pain, until we slowly realize that she may have good reasons for her suspicions. Her relentless pursuit of the priest slowly begins to appear the result of genuine concern for a helpless child.

What makes this production especially exciting is that director Michael Lugering respects the play's ambiguity. People say and do the most outrageous things, and yet Lugering encourages us not to judge them, or to be certain that we would know for sure what we would do under similar circumstances.

For example, there's a scene where the child's mother (Rayme Cornell) makes it clear that if her son is being sexually abused, she'd rather not know about it. That sounds preposterous, but Cornell, as an actress, allows us to understand the logic, and to feel the mother's love for her child -- even as we squirm at what we're hearing.

DeSalvo can be ruthless, but there's often wisdom in her directness and lack of respect for innocence. When DeSalvo and Cornell collide in a beautifully written scene, we see the world from two different logics, and the theater explodes with conflict. It's moments like these that make you grateful that Lugering has respected the characters' contradictions.

I think there's a major problem from the beginning in Brown's performance. He comes off effeminate, like a fake-tough guy who tries to talk as if he were one of the Jets in "West Side Story." This makes the story a bit more creepy and obvious than it should be. All the accents are overstated. And major dramatic scenes are sometimes upstaged by inept blocking that easily could have been corrected.

But much goes right in "Doubt." You can be certain it will leave you with issues for self-discussion. Well, fairly certain.

Anthony Del Valle can be reached at DelValle@aol.com. You can write him c/o Las Vegas Review-Journal, P.O. Box 70, Las Vegas, NV 89125.