Review: A FEW GOOD MEN Is More Than A Few Good Actors

Lumina Theatre’s A FEW GOOD MEN at Howard County Arts Council Is More Than A Few Good Actors

It may be that the only thing you know about A FEW GOOD MEN is the line, “You can’t handle the truth!” to which I say, Yeah, me too. Military, Tom Cruise, but that’s about it. 

The show A FEW GOOD MEN is both courtroom drama and military drama. It involves a couple of young enlisted men caught between orders and humanity, a mediocre lawyer and a committed Internal Affairs agent. It’s reportedly inspired by a phone conversation Aaron Sorkin had with his sister, a marine corps lawyer.

Aaron Sorkin’s 1989 Broadway hit A FEW GOOD MEN was optioned for a movie before the curtain opened, then adapted as a screenplay with the help of Director Rob Reiner for the 1992 film. Sorkin, happy with the adaptation, incorporated changes into the stage show, sending updates to a touring theatrical production.

Lumina Theatre Company  brings their production of A FEW GOOD MEN to Howard County Center for the Arts, a repurposed elementary school in Ellicott City. Just off the lobby, there are M/F gendered restrooms which have multiple sinks and stalls, suitable for use by people under 4 feet tall. Which is to say, mind your knees. Fortunately, there is also a pair of adult-sized non-gendered accessible restrooms deeper inside the building.

Seating is on steeply raked risers, so the view is good but there’s not much elbow and knee room. People line up in the lobby outside the theater before the doors open, in order to get their pick of spots. Being at the end of the line may mean you’re separated from your party. 

Despite A FEW GOOD MEN being a Broadway hit prior to its adaptation and release as a film, it has an extremely cinematic flow to it, which, without the assist of film editing, can be tricky to get right in a live performance. The transitions between scenes need to be properly paced, or risk losing the audience one way or another. My companion appreciates the delay between sequences, to process information delivered in the scenario.  Act I has 25 scenes and 17 sets.  Act II, with 5 sets and 11 scenes, feels less choppy. It is a VERY talky show, with limited opportunity for movement or active blocking, which can be a challenge to visually oriented audience members. 

For visual interest, costuming is a crucial element. Costume Designer Julia Ellrod, with some assistance by Joan Abruzzo, presents an engaging wardrobe which signifies rank and character, and in one significant sequence, humanity. The fit for each actor is impeccable, a thing that might seem a less significant detail -until one sees it done badly- and then it’s never not important again. I admire the handling of hairstyles on actors who are playing, but not actually being, in the Marine Corps. 

Lumina Theater Company seems to be a faith-based organization with a focus on family, which may explain the alteration of the script to remove most of the swearing. The humor embedded in Aaron Sorkin’s script is likewise minimized, though I don’t mean to suggest the two are related. There are, indeed, some welcome laugh moments in this production, but fewer than the dialogue indicates. 

Director Megan Hackett brings together a performance that engages the audience, with characters we hope never to meet (or be), while offering actors the opportunity to dive into personalities that may diverge wildly from their own experiences.  

The performances are full of emotion and nuance, and each actor is deeply committed to each role. I particularly enjoy the reserved performance of Emma Hackett as Internal Affairs officer Joanne Galloway, Daniel Kaffee’s sass and timing as defending attorney Chris Rob, Joshua Ikotun, who moves well onstage and is a delight to watch, delivers a high likeability factor as prosecutor Jack Ross.  Michael Kurek and Drew Sybert as defendants Harold Dawson and Louden Downey are heartbreakingly realistic as two young soldiers trying to do the right thing, with a murky definition of ‘right.’ Although they are together onstage most of the time, they express, with an extremely limited amount of dialogue, different reactions to the situation which entangles them. 

I mention later to some young military people I know that I’m surprised that the brutality, dehumanization and misogyny of the military is not highlighted as I would have expected from a contemporary production of this male-heavy show, but glossed over during the story. “It always is,” the young women tell me, suggesting that we’ve made very little progress in 25 years. 

In this small converted venue, the production values are higher than expected. Timing on blackouts, sound effects and scene changes isn’t properly synchronized, but the special spots, interstitial sounds and numerous sets result in a fairly polished performance.

Lumina’s mission statement of “reclaiming the arts as a force for good” implies that the arts have been used for other purposes. This theatrical company has a short history in the community, so time will tell what the founders of Lumina mean by this. 

Though Director Megan Hackett’s interpretation of this decades-old show has no contemporary spin to it, the overall production values are high, and the acting is excellent. A FEW GOOD MEN incorporates people representing a variety of ages, body types and ethnicities in the cast and production crew, resulting in a multi-generational performance that is obviously quite satisfying for those involved. 

Running time 2 ½ hours, including a 20 minute intermission

Lumina Theatre Company’s A FEW GOOD MEN plays in the Black Box Theater at Howard County Center for the Arts,  8510 High Ridge Road, Ellicott City, MD, for one weekend only, Friday November 22 at 7 PM and Saturday November 23 at 2 PM and 7 PM.  Tickets, $12-$15, can be purchased online.

Free parking is available all around the building

Photo, L to R: Anthony Parker and Kieran O’Donnell as Jeffrey Howard and Jonathan Kendrick (with Michael Kurek as Harold Dawson in some crops)

Photo Credit: Gina Abel

Final Factoid: My young military acquaintances assure me that hazing still happens, but touching another person in that context is prohibited. Superior officers shouting close enough to spit on an enlisted person, who must remain still and expressionless, does not count as hazing.

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