Last night I saw DOUBT at People's Light and Theatre in Malvern, PA., with a group of friends. Having experienced the riveting production on Broadway with Cherry Jones, I wondered if this local production would measure up. Let me tell you, I was on the edge of my chair for the entire 80 minutes. The acting by the ensemble of four was terrific, and there were things I caught that I hadn't remembered from the first time: for one, that Sister Aloysius, the principal of St. Nicholas' School, had been married before; her husband had died in WWII on the Italian Front, fighting Adolf Hitler.
The parallel is obvious: Sister Aloysius fights what she suspects is evil in her school. She is not "popular" with the student body; she believes in toughness and discipline and prizes truth above love and harmony. She goes forward solely on the strength of her experience and convictions. I couldn't help but wonder -- if more people had the courage to speak up when they suspected evil of a popular character (be it Father Flynn, Adolf Hitler, Bernie Madoff or Stalin,) if more of us were less concerned with offending others and being popular -- I wonder if more of the world's evil could be nipped in the bud, or diverted.
