Don’t get me wrong. The production values are absolutely stellar. Lighting and sound are magnificent. The stage appropriately dressed. So well in fact, that the two-tiered set of upper walkway and then lower floor barracks that turned into various offices, not only amplified the story, but in a way, the hierarchy of personalities and social rank in this racially charged murder mystery.
Pulitzer Prize winning, A SOLDIER’S PLAY, by American playwright Charles Fuller, set on a U.S. Army base in the segregation-era South, is a loose adaptation of Herman Melville’s novella Billy Budd. It follows the murder investigation of the Sergeant in an all-black unit and explores the complicated feelings of anger and resentment that some African Americans have toward one another, and more emphatically, the ways in which many black Americans have absorbed white racist attitudes. [1]
Poignantly, in his own words, actor Eugene Lee who plays the abusive Sergeant Vernon C. Waters, (Lee originated the role of Corporal Bernard Cobb in the play’s original Off-Broadway production in 1981 with the Negro Ensemble Company), also the murder victim, adds,“…it deals with…the things we don’t like to talk about.”
The playwright, who often wrote about being Black in America, designed his three-dimensional characters and perspectives to be free from the white gaze. And, in that aspect, the play’s faceted importance is grounded and alive, fully turning inward as pure contemplation. But that is where it stays. There’s otherwise, not much drama. And there’s almost no mystery.
I’d seen, albeit, a very uninspiring low budget, black box theater version of A SOLDIER’S PLAY once before, and I was ready for a far more compelling revisit of this play. But, although aware that the Ahmanson’s 1982 staging which starred Denzel Washington was a superior production, then, I actually had some doubts about this story’s relevancy for today. There’s a dustiness about it, notwithstanding its importance as an embodiment of the African-American experience. And not simply stemming from the time period in which it is set. (The story takes place at the U.S. Army’s Fort Neal, Louisiana, in 1944, during the time when the military was racially segregated.) In terms of the action, not much really happens. There aren’t any surprises and everyone acts just as we expect. Archetypally. Unemotionally. Straightforwardly.
On the other hand, the actor performances are outstanding. Lead, Norm Lewis as Captain Richard Davenport is sheer power. His attention-holding presence throughout the play is nothing less than commanding, as he drives the action of this piece with vigorous authority from first entrance to final exit. Eugene Lee equally pulls no punches in his role. Lee is utterly uninhibited in every bit the ugliness and cruelty of his character, showcasing his dramatic brand of Black on Black brutality. And, the ensemble cast work is crisp, beautifully directed by Kenny Leon, inside and outside of the staging. Truly the whole play reflects its themes in a simply fashioned, easy to follow, digestible construct. Which is where its brilliance lies.
Still, with all the value this narrative offers, it sometimes didn’t seem to be quite enough. And the lingering question is less about the production and more with the playwright’s intent to address the full picture of the African American experience. Given the current, socio-political climate overall in this country, and even while many of the prevailing attitudes of racism continue to survive, is it really true that nothing has changed? I couldn’t help wonder what a far more racially complex, gender aware, and loudly outspoken younger generation is supposed to learn from this piece of “it’s a man’s world” theater? Does it speak inclusively to a whole culture of women as well as men, in a language more consistent with their present reality? Food for thought.
Overall, though, the Ahmanson Theatre’s, A SOLDIER’S PLAY is nothing short of outstanding. It is a unaffected and tenacious story written in the clearest voice by the people of whose experience it is about.
A SOLDIER’S PLAY
At the Ahmanson Theatre, 135 N Grand Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90012
Written by Charles Fuller
Directed by Kenny Leon
With Norm Lewis, Eugene Lee, Will Adams, Brandon Alvion, Sheldon D. Brown, Malik Esoj Childs, Ja’Quan Cole, William Connell, Charles Everett, Alex Michael Givens, Matthew Goodrich, Chattan Mayes Johnson, Branden Davon Lindsay, Tarik Lowe, Al’Jaleel McGhee, Howard W. Overshown
Set Design: Derek McLane
Costume Design: Dede Ayite
Lighting Design: Allen Lee Hughes
Sound Design: Dan Moses Schreier
Associate Director: Cristina Angeles
Production Stage Manager: John M. Atherlay
Photo Credit: The Company of the National Tour of “A Soldier's Play” playing at Center Theatre Group / Ahmanson Theatre May 23 through June 25, 2023.
Photo by Joan Marcus
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Soldier's_Play
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