Lawson Taitte

ADDISON – John Patrick Shanley called his Pulitzer Prize-winning drama Doubt, a Parable. Even in Jesus' day, audiences weren't always sure what parables meant – and that's the glory of this particular one.

It's easy to say that Doubt, which WaterTower Theatre gave its area premiere on Friday, is about the priestly abuse scandals in the Catholic Church. But by putting the action in 1964, Mr. Shanley gives the issue an unusual slant.

Tough grade-school principal Sister Aloysius (Nancy Sherrard) tells the eager nun who teaches eighth grade, Sister James (Jessica Wiggers), that she's too innocent-minded. She also asks her young subordinate what she thinks the assistant pastor, Father Flynn (Regan Adair), meant by his Sunday sermon on the subject of doubt.

Soon Sister James' mind is troubled by all kinds of nightmares and suspicions, notably that Father Flynn is paying inappropriate attention to one of the boys in the school. For the rest of the play, the audience is led back and forth between believing the worst about the priest (who is a warm, charismatic figure) and wondering whether Sister Aloysius is on some kind of crazy crusade.

When the principal decides to confront the boy's mother (M. Denise Lee), a whole new set of issues comes into play. In Doubt, nothing is as it seems ... or is it?

Terry Martin's production makes a strong case for the script. Ms. Sherrard and Ms. Lee have all the force they need for their confrontations, and Ms. Wiggers beautifully shows us the softness that makes the younger sister vulnerable to every wave of emotion and argument. Ms. Sherrard lacks that desiccated hardness of an old-school nun, but her take on the character remains a valid one.

Mr. Adair is the pleasant surprise among the cast members. It wasn't obvious that this particular role was in the talented actor's range, but he nails it. We see the outward strength and hidden vulnerability of a priest on the rise. Mr. Adair gives us his athletic jocularity and his brutal recourse to power and, of course, that charismatic warmth.

This parable is about much more than at first appears, as all parables are. It foretells not only the crisis of confidence in the priesthood but also the challenges to hierarchical authority and the increasing centrality of women in the American church since the Second Vatican Council.

Let him who has ears hear.

PLAN YOUR LIFE Through Oct. 26 at WaterTower Theatre, Addison. Runs 95 mins. $22 to $40. 972-450-6232, www.watertowertheatre.org.