A SOLDIER’S PLAY


Whodunnits don’t get any more edge-of-your-seat, and National Tours don’t get any more spectacular, than Roundabout Theatre Company’s Tony-winning revival of A Soldier’s Play, Charles Fuller’s eye-opening look at racism on a segregated WWII-era military base, now keeping audiences on the edge of their seats at the Ahmanson.

The year is 1944 and African-American Master Sergeant Vernon C. Waters (Eugene Lee) has been shot to death by an unknown assailant, the last words on his lips a cryptic “They still hate us.”

Summoned by the Army brass to investigate the killing is Captain Richard Davenport (Norm Lewis), easily the last person base commander Captain Charles Taylor (William Connell) wants to have in charge of the case if for no other reason than that Taylor, white, has never met, let alone had to work with, a person of color in a position of power equal to his own.

There’s also the ticklish matter of a black man questioning white suspects, chief among them the local Ku Klux Klan and a pair of officers on guard duty the night of the killing.

It soon becomes clear, however, that Waters’ murderer may in fact be one of the black soldiers under his charge, more than a few of whom have had ample reason to wish Waters dead, among them Private James Wilkie (Howard W. Overshown), whom Waters had stripped of his hard-earned stripes after being found drunk on guard duty.

But Wilkie isn’t the only soldier with a score to settle, possible suspects also including Corporal Bernard Cobb (Will Adams), Private Louis Henson (Branden Davon Lindsay), Private C. J. Memphis (Sheldon D. Brown), Private First Class Melvin Peterson (Tarik Lowe), and Private Tony Smalls (Malik Esoj Childs), not to mention the possible racist motives of the aforementioned white officers, Lieutenant Byrd (Chattan Mayes Johnson) and Captain Wilcox (Matthew Goodrich).

Playwright Fuller’s genius, and one of the reasons his magnum opus won such prestigious awards as the Tony and the Pulitzer, is the way he uses a tried-and-true crowd-pleaser, the whodunnit, to probe racism in a still-segregated army, not only that of whites towards blacks, but that of murder victim Waters against any soldier who didn’t meet his standards of what a black man should be, specifically those coming from the deep South, whose “Uncle Tom” ways he considered a discredit to the race, and whose eradication, he believed, could do nothing but good.

All of this adds up to a play guaranteed to keep audiences not just guessing but reflecting upon its themes for days after its stunning, heartbreaking lights-out.

Director Kenny Leon takes what was already a surefire script and adds striking, distinctive touches of his own beginning with an arresting blues intro performed live by the soldiers we’re about to meet, a musical leitmotif carried on throughout the show.

Even Broadway musical theater star Lewis gets a vocal solo showcase of his own, though even without singing a note, his commanding dramatic lead performances would be considered award caliber, whether in relentless detective mode or sparring with Connell’s terrific Captain Taylor, the duo’s scenes together crackling as much for what is said as for what lies beneath the surface, and Lee is every bit as sensational as a man as tormented as he is a tormentor.

Supporting performances (in a cast completed by Alex Michael Givens as Corporal Ellis) are uniformly superb, each featured cast member creating as distinctly rendered a character as any audience could hope for.

Costume designer Dede Ayite, lighting designer Allen Lee Hughes, and scenic designer Derek McLane all received Tony nominations for their work (McLane’s versatile two-level set is a particular stunner), and Dan Moses Schreier’s sound design easily could have scored a nomination.

Cristina Angeles is associate director. John M. Atherlay is production manager. Casting is by Jim Carnahan, CSA, and Maureen Kelleher, CSA. Brandon Alvión, Ja’Quán Cole, Charles Everett, Al’Jaleel McGhee, and Alex Ross are understudies.

As illuminating as it is enthralling, and as satisfying as any whodunnit worth its salt ought to be, A Soldier’s Play more than merits the awards it’s received over the past four decades. Roundabout Theatre Company’s pitch-perfect Broadway revival of this contemporary classic is as good as it gets.

Ahmanson Theatre, 135 N Grand Ave, Los Angeles.
www.CenterTheatreGroup.org

–Steven Stanley
May 24, 2023
Photos: Joan Marcus

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