NEW YORK
Washington Post
By Peter Marks
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, December 16, 2004; Page C01
NEW YORK -- "Doubt" is the wonderfully apt title of John Patrick Shanley's remarkable new play about paranoia and pedophilia in the Catholic Church. Where the molesting of a child is concerned, the doubt of others is of comfort to the guilty and a torment for the falsely accused, and in Shanley's 90-minute work, the sowing of doubt is also a springboard to a provocative study of the tenuous nature of faith and the inconstancy of justice.
Anchored by a moving, riveting performance by Cherry Jones -- to whom Shanley has bequeathed her most rewarding part since her Tony-winning star turn in "The Heiress" nearly a decade ago -- "Doubt" is a reminder that there's life yet in the well-made play. A simple story told well remains a powerful tool in the hands of a playwright with something he's burning to get off his chest.
In "Doubt," Shanley -- who despite a trunkful of produced plays is best known for his screenplay for "Moonstruck" -- deals passionately and, yes, even amusingly with a subject that's been treated countless times in articles and documentaries, in made-for-television specials and feature films. That the topic retains the ability to rub nerves raw suggests that as a society we are still learning to grapple with its tragic impact, and also that many people both in and out of the faith remain deeply confused by the church's seeming complicity in a number of the cases that have come to light.