WHAT: “A Few Good Men”
WHO: Community Little Theatre
WHEN: 7:30 p.m. June 7; 8 p.m. June 8-9; 2 p.m. June 10
WHERE: Great Falls Performing Arts Center, Academy Street, Auburn
TICKETS: $15/$13. Call 783-0958, or order online at www.laclt.com.
AUBURN – L/A’s Community Little Theatre scores a hit with its rendition of “A Few Good Men,” a script by Aaron Sorkin that made it to the silver screen in a 1992 flick starring Tom Cruise, Jack Nicholson and Demi Moore.
Two young Marines, Lance Cpl. Dawson and Pfc. Louden Downey (Matt Delamater and Jacob Hughes) are charged with causing the death of a third, Santiago (Christopher Hodgkins) by putting into practice the unwritten policy of “Code Red” – a ritual hazing performed on a fellow soldier whose conduct is substandard to the Marine commitment to “unit-corps-God-country.”
Santiago is left shaved, asphyxiated and possibly poisoned by a “Code Red” that went too far.
But who is ultimately responsible for his death?
The show centers on this search for justice through a military structure that is secretive and often unyielding.
Lt. j.g. Daniel Kaffee (Luke Douglass), is summoned to defend the pair of Marines, hoping for a plea bargain, at best, until female lawyer, Lt. Comm. Jo Galloway (Becky Shor) arrives ready to blow up the military establishment in search of the truth. Kaffee is also assisted by Lt. j.g. Sam Weinberg (Brian Pfohl), a wise-cracking, comic relief character.
While Sorkin’s script is fictional, it strikes very close to home when one considers the current-day prisoner abuse stories from the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq.
And what makes the script even more striking, is the unwavering righteousness that all of their actions are decent, good and in the best interest of the military machinery.
Douglass gives a great performance as the young lawyer. He slices through a tremendous amount of dialogue with finesse and does a fine job with the nuances of this leading role. He is well supported with an admirable performance by Shor and a great string of one-liners and comic timing handled adeptly by Pfohl.
Daniel Goodheart, as the rough and tough Lt. Col. Nathan Jessep, is spellbinding in his role. A lieutenant colonel in the Maine Army National Guard, Goodheart does some fine acting as he explores the depths of a complex military man.
Ian Mulligan, a 16-year-old student, scores the best comic moments of the evening as Cpl. Jeffrey Owen Howard, a young Marine interrogated in the courtroom. In other supporting roles, Lloyd Chute, Gerry Therrien and Robert Bohren give memorably strong performances.
Dick Rosenberg’s set effectively uses multilevel platforms with a backdrop looking much like a prisoner concentration camp. Richard Martin’s lighting was solid though actors seemed to stray from their “hot spots” at times.
I commend director John Blanchette for taking on such a challenging show. Some directors might not attempt such a script because it relies so heavily on a large cast of men. (You see, the curse of many community theater troupes is not getting enough men to fit roles – relying on teenage boys, and even girls, to complete the cast.) There is no lack of testosterone in this show. These are real men and fine actors doing a bang-up performance in a powerful production.
Dan Marois has reviewed theater productions for the Sun Journal for 10 years. He may be reached at dmarois@fairpoint.net.
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