Doubt: A Parable

It was Friday the 13th and the play was called "Doubt," surely that qualifies as a troubling omen? Talk about opening night pressure.

Inauspicious dates aside, "Doubt" is a hell of a play. It won the Pulitzer 10 years ago, and 15 minutes into this Contra Costa Civic Theatre production you can already tell it wasn't a pity vote. It's 1964 in a recently integrated Bronx Catholic school, where Father Flynn (Steve Rhyne) is the genial, compassionate, forward-thinking parish priest and Sister Aloysius (Scarlett Hepworth) is the principal, a steely disciplinarian with integrity and savvy but all the warmth and charm of an expired parking meter.

The two are about as compatible as hairspray and open flames as it is, but then Sister Aloysius gets a tip from another nun that Father Flynn might -- just might -- be taking advantage of an 8th grade boy in that way certain priests are known to do. True to its title, the play never tips us off definitively as to whether he actually did it. Is the good Father wrongfully accused by way of a political vendetta, or is the sister the only one sharp enough to see through him?

At first it seems easy to tell where our own sympathies will lie. Rhyne plays such an inoffensive, likable shepherd type that he can even find the bright side in the Kennedy assassination and not sound like he's bullshitting you. Hepworth plays a bloodless gorgon who treats her students like felons. He's a nurturing mentor with the kids and a feel-good showman at the pulpit, while she acts like a grizzled platoon sergeant trying to drive everyone else through the trenches. But of course, it wouldn't be much of a play if it didn't give us reasons to start trusting her and doubting (there's that word again) him as it winds along.

Rhyne makes a good martyr: anxious, frustrated, quietly angry but too conscious of it to really own it. His character might be guilty after all, but he acts like someone unjustly accused and clearly really believes it, and that's compelling. Hepworth is a step behind: She's good at being wry and cagey, but when it's time for her to be determined or incensed she sounds a bit affected. Still, she does sell the play's unsettling and unexpected final lines.

But the standout in this production is Mikkel Simons playing a younger nun caught between the two leads. Even though it seems she has a weaker part on paper, Simons has a remarkably crushed and distraught demeanor that's a little scary in a wonderful way.

We're not sure how many San Francisco theatergoers entertain the idea of trekking all the way out to El Cerrito, but CCCT really is good, and worth the trip. Smart people with good taste are in charge over there. "Doubt" is their strongest offering of the season so far, and it's such a commanding, startling, dauntless play to begin with that any chance to see it merits your time.

"Doubt" plays through March 8 at the Contra Costa Civic Theatre, 951 Pomona, in El Cerrito. For tickets and information, call 510-524-9132 or visit CCCT.org.