BWW Preview: PVT. WARS - Dark Comedy Flourishes in a VA Hospital

So Called Productions may be a fledgling company presenting their theatrical premier, yet their show, Pvt. Wars (by James McLure), has already proven to be a successful production. Mounted at the Plaza Playhouse in 2013 to much audience enthusiasm, Pvt. Wars is a dark comedy about about physical and psychological recovery from the emotional trauma of combat. Sean Jackson, Sean O'Shea, and George Coe will reprise their roles as disturbed veterans convalescing in a VA hospital after their tours in Vietnam. Silvio (Sean Jackson) is a bombastic (yet ultimately impotent) lecher; Gately (Sean O'Shea) is a Southern gentleman with unwavering confidence in the ethos of "the free market"; and Natwick (George Coe) is a pedantic New Yorker whose lack of self-assurance and conviction sets him apart from the other two characters, who, while still lost, have a more clear perception of their place in the universe.

Jackson, as Silvio, is a sure bet for bringing intensity along with humor; he refers to his character as an overcompensating wise-ass obsessed with indecent exposure. "As actor-character connections go," he admits, "it doesn't get much stronger than mine." O'Shea, who plays Gately, has built his character directly from script to stage in a layering effect that moves inward. The character's dialogue and actions are linked to his immediate thoughts and motivations, which in turn are connected to his more hidden, subconscious struggles. Finally, there's Natwick, whom Coe describes as a man who "feels isolated and desperately wants to be accepted by his peers, but his own self image keeps him from achieving this in many ways. He's very intelligent, but socially unaware to the point where he's his own worst enemy. He is simultaneously fascinated and repulsed by the military lifestyle he's fallen into." Natwick questions his role in life, so Coe creates dramatic impetus for the character's tendency to question. A consistently excellent performer, Coe's objective is to display these dichotomous relationships for the audience to consider and dissect.

The focus of this production of Pvt. Wars has evolved since the 2013 version of the show, and So Called's reboot aims to present the complicated relationships between the recovering GIs with greater nuance. This new version of the production takes a scalpel to the last version and digs the ribs from the body to create a new, more refined production in the likeness of the old. Jackson, for instance, is exploring the more penetrating moments of darkness born from his character's PTSD, which, at the time, was still a predominantly misinterpreted emotional malady. The humor of the character is still immediate, but it's clearer that the genesis of the laughs come from a desperate urge to defer emotional suffering. Audiences will relate to each character's implementation of strategies for battling emotional wounds. Some strategies are more effective than others--some elicit pity, some elicit laughter--but through authentic, candid performances, audiences will be able to experience both termini of the "dramedy" spectrum. As Coe puts it, "there's a lot between the slapstick and the depressive." That's the balancing act of good theatre--the cast maintains feet firmly on the boards to ground characters who aren't stable enough to ground themselves.

A tight, well-written script, Pvt. Wars addresses both internal and external conflicts: the personal struggles raging inside the heads of the troubled patients are a reflection of the macrocosmic issues regarding the devastating effect that combat experiences in Vietnam had on a generation of soldiers--and the politically polarizing effect that American involvement in the war had on the nation. Troops were sent to fight for objectives that weren't necessarily clear or unilaterally accepted by the population they were "protecting" from the intangible enemy of a socio-economic trend. Director Bill Egan describes this production as an opportunity to explore themes surrounding "the fragile issues that veterans face on returning to civilian life from war." With each passing year, the Vietnam War becomes more remote in the chronicles of history, yet this theme of transition from military to civilian life, especially after a substantial amount of time spent in a traumatizing environment, continues to be relevant. The topics broached are in response to a country whose economy depends on the perpetuation of the war machine, yet cannot support the mental and emotional recovery of those who risk all to maintain that engine's thrust.

Dark comedy sprouts roots and finds the resources to flourish inside the VA hospital despite the hard truth that the patients are suffering veterans who've lost some aspect of their humanity in the jungle. These soldiers, like society outside the hospital walls, demonstrate a (somewhat muddled) motivation to be rehabilitated. With Pvt. Wars, So Called Productions intends to present a highly developed, complex emotional performance in which hurt and humor are intertwined in an extraordinarily honest expression of human indomitability.

So Called Productions presents:

Pvt. Wars

By James McLure
Directed by Bill Egan

August 21st-September 5th @ Center Stage Theater

Tickets: http://www.centerstagetheater.org/

https://www.facebook.com/socalledproductionssb?fref=ts

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