Review
A Soldier's Play
Second Stage
October 26, 2005
VanLoan
vanloan@nyconstage.org
Charles Fuller's Pulitzer Prize winning A Soldier's Play is getting a 21-gun salute in the revival at the Second Stage. Set in a Louisiana Army barracks during the1940's, a sadistic black Sergeant is found murdered off the base. An outside investigator is sent to try to clear up any loose ends. He is also black; chosen to negate any racial inferences in the case. He must however report to the white commander who is also insisting on "the truth". The stage is set for a highly charged psychologically taut old fashioned who-done-it. Fuller's play lives up to its potential despite the fact that at times it can become a little schematic. This is especially true concerning the subplot about the "do-nothin litel geechie boy" who infuriates the now deceased Sergeant Waters. The flashback quality of the plotting also keeps the tension high even when it moves a little to close to black/white stereotypes. The saving grace of the piece is the outstanding roles it offers the actors involved. This is an ensemble piece in the truest sense. Under Jo Bonney's taut direction all the actors triumph, especially Anthony Mackie as the private first class who is wrapped as tight as a kettledrum, and James McDaniel as the riveting, alcoholic, self-loathing Sergeant Waters.
...end
|
