Doubt: A Parable at The Loft

l-r: Nadine Batchelor-Hunt, Michael Barker, Sue Moore, Anna Butcher. Photo by Richard Smith Photography.

Doubt: A Parable, The Loft Theatre, Leamington from 25 February to Saturday 7 March 2026. Written by John Patrick Shanley, directed by Chris Gilbey-Smith.

Review by Ashley Hayward.

This award winning play is set in a Bronx Catholic School in 1964 and concerns the conflict between the school’s principal and the parish priest.

Sue Moore gives a very commanding performance as Sister Aloysius the stuffy, severe, conservative and widely feared Principal whilst Michael Barker is equally impressive as the progressive, warm-hearted and easy going Father Flynn.

With such immensely different philosophies the two characters were always likely to be on a collision course and the situation was exacerbated when a younger nun, Sister James, reveals that the Father had invited Donald Muller, the school’s first African-American student, to his rectory.

Anna Butcher is very convincing as the sensitive but somewhat naïve young nun who always likes to see good in people and is devoted to her faith and her profession. She claims to have seen Donald emerge from the priest’s office looking very upset and also smelling of alcohol.

When the fearsome Sister Aloysius hears this she is convinced that the boy is the victim of sexual abuse and immediately embarks on a campaign to discredit the Priest.

Anna Butcher, Nadine Batchelor-Hunt, Sue Moore, Michael Barker. Photo by Richard Smith Photography.

The excellent script gives the audience mixed signals about whether the priest was guilty or not and the audience have to make their own minds up.

We do not get to meet young Master Muller but there is a very moving scene when Nadine Batchelor-Hunt plays his mother. Despite being encouraged by the Principal, Mrs Muller was not willing to be drawn into a battle of two opposing ideologies and was prepared to turn a blind eye to any indiscretions as she just wanted her son to have a good education and progress on to High School. She is also grateful for the interest and kindness shown by the Priest to her son as the boy receives little support from his physically abusive father.

This tense and gripping play is excellently directed by Chris Gilbey-Smith and challenges us with different ideas about abuse, race, sexuality, power imbalance, the nature of truth itself and the meaning of faith. All this within the scope of 90 minutes and without ever becoming dry or didactic! This considerable feat is down to a mesmerising script and powerful performances.

Special credit must be given to the actors for managing to sustain their impressive American accents throughout the performance and also for the fact that they were able to cope with the play being halted on a couple of occasions due to lighting problems. They very successfully took it in their stride.

The play illustrates perfectly the crisis of confidence felt in all religious institutions in the wake of abuse scandals – but it has messages for wider society too. Discussion plays, such as those of George Bernard Shaw, have long since fallen out of fashion. Perhaps Doubt heralds a revival?

For tickets: visit www.lofttheatrecompany.com, by emailing boxoffice@lofttheatrecompany.com, or by calling 01926 830 680 (answer phone service).