It is remarkable how wrong your expectations of a theatre night can be. Before actually seeing “Doubt – A Parable” on stage, you might well think that you are going to experience a serious and maybe even tragic play. Talking about The Hamburg Players’ Version of John Patrick Shanley’s Pulitzer Price winning work this proved to be a misleading expectation.
In preparation for the evening, theatregoers usually take their time and gather information about what they are going to see. This includes, of course, summaries, comments on the play, maybe a biography of the playwright and sometimes also production reviews, which was clearly not possible for this staging, as it was the premiere. In the case of “Doubt”, this gathering of information will most certainly educe ideas like child molestation, racism, secular and religious, old school and modern, suspicion, belief and, last but not least, doubt. If not all of them, at least some of these themes might sound familiar to you as the “Doubt”-theatregoer. And they draw a dark picture of a dangerous and hilly landscape in which mysterious characters make their way.
Now sitting in a comfortable chair at “Theater an der Marschnerstraße” in Hamburg, you will be amazed from the first second that this play is actually a funny one. Even the friendly lady annoucing technical things adds to an atmosphere of relaxed entertainment. And it is not only the text that creates humour during the following two hours of the performance. It is due to the three main actors that the audience can feel safely wrapped in sensitive jokes and cautious fun making. First and foremost Lexi von Hoffmann and Ellen Bergman as Sisters Aloysius and James present a brilliant duo of gestures, facial expressions and glances. The way they frame their characters tends to be a little exaggerated, but they stop overdoing them right before they would start seeming disproportionate. It is exhilarating how Ellen Bergman portrays her extremely naive and good-hearted nun compared to an excessively down-to-earth Lexi von Hoffmann.
But besides this entertaining interpretation of the two nuns which first catches your eye, there is of course still the serious side of the play with Mrs. Muller maybe being the most grave character. Eve Harris presents a thoroughly tough and even tragic figure. She is the mother who decides that there are things one has to accept in favour of a successful career. Apart from the words written by Shanley, there is also a deadsure gaze in her eye showing that life is sometimes hard and sacrifices have to be made. Although it is not an obvious topic in the play, the actress is able to show a glimpse of the kind of life a woman like Mrs. Muller must have led in the Bronx in 1964. Which makes it easier for the audience to understand the kind of behaviour that results in the philosophy: “Sometimes things are black and white.”
This philosophy is also innate in the production. The symbolic colours black and white occur repeatedly during the play, most prominently in the nun’s robes, Sister Aloysius being old-fashioned and a little uptight wearing black and the young, open-minded and completely innocent Sister James in white. Of course this symbolism does not only relate to Mrs. Muller’s world outlook. Also the presentation of the female characters is a little black and white. Both portray extreme sides in various regards. We can see modern and old-fashioned, young and old, positive- and negative-thinking as well as good-heartedness and strictness next to each other. This can be seen as a little one-sided indeed, but considering the aim to point out difficulties between the generations, the races and even between different church officials, it seems more to be aimed at a straightforward presentation of characters than a result of a one-sided interpretation of the text. There is only one thing that does not quite seem to fit into this. Sister Aloysius sarting to cry at the very end of the play leaves the impression of an unsure and maybe even broken character. Considering her behaviour throughout the rest of the play it gives an impression of unsteady interpretation.
Having said so much about the female characters so far, there should be a few sentences about Harald Djürken’s Father Flynn as well. He is as brilliant and entertaining at acting as his female colleagues. At the same time his character is ambiguous and changes during the course of the play. He is supposed to be nice and vice in one as well as to behave differently depending on who is listening.
Therefore it has to be pointed out again that all the actors have a share in this successfull production in equal parts. It is fun watching them on stage and two hours pass by unnoticed while the interpretation leaves an impression on our minds making us want to speak about it afterwards.
