Quite a
few, and more than good
by Michael
Dresdner
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| L to R: Tice, Jenkins, Mohs-Hale, Curley All photos by Kate Paterno-Link |
Last
night, on (coincidentally?) 9/11, Lakewood Playhouse opened their 77th
season with an impressive production of Aaron
Sorkin’s brilliant drama A Few Good Men. Director Beau Prichard assembled a
tight, well-meshed ensemble cast that was nonetheless peppered liberally with
outstanding individual performances by some ideally cast actors.
Lance
Cpl. Dawson (Aaron Mohs-Hale), a strong, natural young leader and singularly
committed marine, and Pfc. Downey (K. E. Jenkins), a somewhat slow youth who
trusts and follows Dawson’s leadership, are accused of murdering a fellow
member of Dawson’s unit stationed at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
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| L to R: Mohs-Hale, Jenkins |
They are assigned Lt.
Kaffee (Jacob Tice) as their lawyer, who brings along his friend and fellow
lawyer Lt. Weinberg (Jim Rogers). A prickly female lawyer, Lt. Cmdr. Callowy
(Cassie Jo Fastabend) manipulates her way into the third seat of the legal
team, and the interplay between the three diverse personalities provides an undercurrent
to the already problematic case.
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| L to R: Tice, Rogers, Fastabend |
Much of
the complication revolves around whether or not the hapless defendants were
ordered by their superior officers to conduct a “code red,” an unofficial and
illegal form of hazing used to bring weak members of a unit into line. This time
it turned unintentionally deadly; hence their situation. The complication comes
as their loyalty and integrity leaves them trapped between ratting out their
superiors and maintaining the unit’s rather closed code of honor.
Though
the prosecutor, Lt. Ross (Tom Phiel) and Kaffee are both willing to set up a plea
deal of manslaughter, the boys refuse, insisting on nothing less than a plea of
innocent. As the case starts to fall apart in the face of uncooperative senior
officers and a lack of clear proof, the team decides to gamble it all by
calling the camp’s senior officer, Jessup, to the stand.
Lt. Col.
Jessup (James A. Gilletti) is a latter day George Armstrong Custer; arrogant,
unyielding, and overly self-confident in his own leadership ability. It’s only
by tripping him up into blurting out what he really thinks does Kaffee turn the
tide of the case.
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| L to R: Phiel, Gilletti |
As I
said, the thoroughly believable ensemble cast was very well chosen and meshed
beautifully. Still, allow me the indulgence to wax effusive about just a few of
the outstanding performances that particularly caught my fancy, by actors who
created some disarmingly believable characters.
Let’s
start with some of the small roles. Darrel Shiley, Jr. was so spot-on in the
very minor role as the quintessential military desk jockey Capt. Whitaker that
it took me a while to realize the actor was one who I had shared the stage with
just last season. Curtis Beech believably crafted the well-intentioned but
easily coerced doctor, Cmdr. Stone. Tom Phiel held his own as the prosecutor
who would rather make a deal, and must quash his reluctance to press the murky
case.
Mason
Quinn did yeoman service as the rigid, single-minded, bible-quoting Lt.
Kendrick, making his classic character more Marine than human, and more
religious than understanding. In contrast, Christian Carvajal crafted a very believable
and frankly very likeable Capt. Markinson, an older officer whose varied past assignments,
some in undercover work, nurtured a Marine lifer with a rare combination of wisdom,
compassion, honesty, and integrity.
Mohs-Hale
brought a quiet strength to Dawson, making his commitment, leadership, and
wide-spread respect entirely believable. He is both guide and bulwark for Jenkins,
playing his convincingly weaker and trusting fellow defendant Downey.
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| L to R: Rogers, Tice |
Jim
Rogers as Weinberg created another interesting pairing; his mostly calm,
common-sense persona was the yin to Kaffee’s yang, and the two balanced and
completed one another beautifully. Cassie Jo Fastabend’s insistent and
intentionally annoying Galloway manages to, in turn, goad and shore up the
other two.
And that
brings us to Jacob Tice, the play’s lead, Lt. Kaffee, and its shining light. It’s
no mean feat making a well-recognized movie role your own, but Tice did it in
spades. His Kaffee was perfect; a glib, easy-mannered hot-shot whose flippancy is
not a cover-up for insecurity, but rather an indulgence only one with real
brilliance and skill can comfortably afford. That’s a tough combination to
portray, but Tice did it superbly.
A simple
set by James Venturini and director Prichard works well as courtroom, jail
cell, and several offices with only a few lighting (Daniel Cole) and furniture alterations.
The wide range of military costumes (Frances Rankos) was no doubt made even
more challenging by the fact that one of the male characters was actually
played by a well-disguised female actor.
Unlike
some productions in thrust configuration, Prichard’s blocking did not favor the
center section but rather worked at all angles. You’ll have great lines of
sight no matter where you choose to sit.
And yes,
you most certainly should choose to sit somewhere. The opening night audience
was a bit sparse, perhaps because it coincided with the first day of the
Puyallup Fair (no, I won’t call it by its new name). This production deserves
packed houses. Make it a point to be in one of them. That’s an order, private.
A Few
Good Men
Sept. 11
to Oct. 11, 2015
Lakewood
Playhouse
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