Doubt: A Parable review – Sam Reid and Pamela Rabe go head-to-head in electrifying drama

The brief

In a turbulent time for live performing arts in Australia, with cancelled musical tours, shrinking orchestras and rising production costs as audiences spend more carefully, Sydney Theatre Company is one of the few that has managed to post a surplus. Through a mixture of funding and investments, careful programming and a few hits – including The Talented Mr Ripley and this year’s An Iliad starring David Wenham – the company is a steady port in the current theatrical storm, and nowhere is that steadiness more clear than this new, straightforward production of Doubt: A Parable. Written by John Patrick Shanley (Moonstruck), Doubt takes place entirely on the grounds of a…