On 26 March, the audience of Sarajevo will have the opportunity to enjoy the play John Patrick Shanley , Pulitzer winner play ‘Doubt, a Parable’, which will be shown in Chamber Theatre 55 at 8 p.m.
The play is set in the fictional St. Nicholas Church School, in the Bronx, during the fall of 1964. It opens with a sermon by Father Flynn, a beloved and progressive parish priest, addressing the importance of uncertainty (“Doubt can be a bond as powerful and sustaining as certainty,” he says). The school’s principal, Sister Aloysius, a rigidly conservative nun vowed to the order of the Sisters of Charity, insists upon constant vigilance. During a meeting with a younger nun, Sister James, it becomes clear that Aloysius harbors a deep mistrust toward her students, her fellow clergymen, and society in general. Naïve and impressionable, James is easily upset by Aloysius’ severe manner and harsh criticism.
Aloysius and Father Flynn are put into direct conflict when she learns from Sister James that the priest met one-on-one with Donald Muller, St. Nicholas’ first African-American student. Mysterious circumstances lead her to believe that sexual misconduct occurred.
Father Flynn eventually threatens to remove Aloysius from her position if she does not back down. Aloysius informs him that she previously phoned the last parish he was assigned to, discovering a history of past infringements. After declaring his innocence, the priest begins to plead with her, at which point she leaves the office, disgusted. Flynn calls the bishop to apply for a transfer, where, later, he receives a promotion and is instated as pastor of a nearby parochial school. Learning this, Aloysius reveals to Sister James that the decisive phone call was a fabrication. With no actual proof that Father Flynn is or is not innocent, the audience is left with its own doubt.
Director of the play is Selma Spahić, and the cast: Tatjana Šojić, Ermin Bravo, Maja Izetbegović, Jelena Kordić-Kuret.
