A Few Good Men
Thankfully, there have been more than a few good men in my life, including my dad and my fifth-grade friend and still bestie, who did the things you might expect a good man to do. Like keep me safe. Hold me accountable. Help me become a good man myself.
Struggling to do those same things in the play A Few Good Men at the Richardson Theatre Centre are characters representing a select group of people in the U.S. Military, either stationed on the dangerous front line at the U.S. naval base in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, or dispensing military justice through the U.S. Navy Judge Advocate General’s Core (JAG). They serve and labor to be good men and women, sometimes for a specific individual but always for a larger group, such as the Core or even the entire Country. And often with life and death consequences.
In fact, as the play begins, we learn that PFC. William Santiago has died at the hands of Lance Cpl. Harold Dawson and PFC. Louden Downey, as they themselves have admitted. But was the death an accident or deliberate murder and did the two accused act on their own or were they following orders? That’s for the Navy’s JAG to help determine as Dawson and Downey are tried in a court-martial. Seen in brief flashbacks, Loren Pontiff’s Santiago is whiney, desperate, sympathetic, and barely holding on as he seeks a transfer off Guantánamo, but was he the slacker that he’s accused of being? All the while Dawson and Downey, as played by Joshua Nerio and Gavin Moore respectively, despite admitting to the killing, come across as sympathetic young men themselves, who we can plainly see have made a commitment beyond their years to a code beyond their understanding: Unit, Core, God, Country.
The two defendants eventually garner three lawyers of hugely different stripes. The lead attorney is L.T. J.G. Daniel Kaffee played by Ian Grygotis with a stubbornly affable charm and brusque belligerence, is the embodiment of the hot shot lawyer who keeps score by counting pleas bargained rather than cases won, which makes perfect sense as he’s never once gone to trial. His colleague L.T. J.G. Sam Weinburg is played by Joe Cucinotti as a man who’s soppily obsessed with his baby daughter’s every antic while worrying about doing the right thing on the job. Cucinotti is believable as the conflicted Weinburg who isn’t sure getting the defendants off lightly or even acquitted would serve justice. Together Grygotis and Cucinotti are convincing as two J.G.’s who have a gently teasing and good working relationship, despite Kaffee’s desire for expedience versus Weinburg’s worries for right versus wrong. Insinuating herself into the defense team is a third lawyer, Lt. Com. Joanne Galloway, who as played by Janae Hatchett is a possibly misguided missile of a litigator rocketing towards her notion of justice with rapid-fire repartee and a full-voiced defense of their clients. Watching these three working together and at times against each other is riveting.
Just as there are three defense attorneys, we also find three officers senior to the two defendants. Brian Hoffman shines like the medals that his character, Col. Nathan Jessup, adorns, as he gleefully eats alive anyone and everyone who doesn’t understand that he’s in the business of saving lives. Hoffman does not disappoint in the courtroom scenes, both as he testifies and afterwards. Hoffman’s Jessup is commanding in every sense of the word and the tension crackles when he deals with the lawyers and or his subordinate officers.
Anthony Macgee as Dr. Walter Stone visibly shrivels under private pressure from Hoffman’s Jessup. Kenneth Fulenwider’s Capt. Matthew Markinson is stoic and silent as he fails to directly stand up to his superior officer Jessup and is especially compelling when we later see him ultimately resolve his dilemma. Blair Mitchell’s Lt. Jonathan Kendrick is sneerily superior in attitude throughout and it’s evident he has no doubt that God is in complete agreement with him on everything, which is chilling to watch, especially when he’s on the stand.
Others crucial to the pivotal courtroom scenes include Everett Dealy’s somewhat weary yet no-nonsense Judge Julius Randolph and Andrew R. Looney’s Lt. Jack Ross, who passionately prosecutes the case while also striving to make any deal that would protect the Navy’s reputation. Indrias Haddis as Cpl. Jeffrey Howard and Chris Berthelot as Capt. Isaac Whitaker hacw brief, but key scenes wherein, they drive home how an organization based on a strict hierarchy, duty and orders operates. A huge congratulations is in order for the large cast, who ably rounded out and brought to life this vibrant and vital world.
What makes for good men, or women, however many or few? Director Janette Oswald’s production of A Few Good Men is an intensely intimate exploration of this question as told through the enthralling story of PFC Santiago’s killing and the court-martial of his killers. This court martial is in session and should not be missed!
Accessible seating: Yes
Hearing Devices Available: No
Sensory Friendly Showing: No
Audience Rating: PG-13
Production Sound Level: Comfortable
Noises and Visuals to Know About: Yes. Gunshots and violence.
See you at the theater!
David Ellivloc
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