The Tony-winning revival of Charles Fuller's 1981 drama 'A Soldier's Play,' directed by Kenny Leon, arrives at the Ahmanson Theatre with a cast that includes Norm Lewis and Eugene Lee. It doesn't disappoint, writes Times theater critic Charles McNulty:
Charles Fuller’s 1981 drama “A Soldier’s Play” is a fiercely complex study of race relations neatly packaged as a whodunit. By the end, the murderer is revealed, but guilt is spread all around and justice remains an elusive quest.Kenny Leon
The action is set in Fort Neal, La. It’s 1944 and the military is still segregated. Racism is pervasive, and the prevailing assumption is that the Ku Klux Klan lynched Sgt. Waters. “Captain, did you see my orders?” Davenport coolly replies. He has no intention of backing down from this assignment. Placating prejudices advances nothing. But his commitment to objectivity will raise moral dilemmas that don’t have easy answers.Davenport discovers during his investigation the sadism of Waters, a martinet who shamed, browbeat and tormented his men. Private C.J. Memphis, a guitar-strumming gentle giant with a country bumpkin way — touchingly incarnated by Sheldon D.
Waters believes every Black person must serve as an example. “We need lawyers, doctors, generals, senators!” he hollers at Private James Wilkie , who can’t help falling short of the sergeant’s unforgiving standards. He’s not interested in overturning the system — he wants to conquer it from inside. And he won’t tolerate any self-pitying excuses from the men under him: “Not havin’ ain’t no excuse for not gettin’,” he proclaims.
The production would be stronger if more effort were made to further individualize the subordinate characters. There’s some blurriness to the storytelling, partly to do with the number of parts and partly to do with the Ahmanson’s large stage. But the core of the play is so solid and the discussion still so urgent that these issues are relatively minor.
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