By DAVID MACCAR
Staff Writer
The atmosphere was
grandiose as the lights went up and a three-section stage emblazoned with an
American flag backdrop behind rows of barbed wire was revealed.
A company of
soldiers in battle dress uniform marched out with rifles on their shoulders.
They shouted a cadence and performed an impressive series of rifle maneuvers,
before filing off stage as abruptly and as orderly as they came on and were
rewarded with the applause of the audience. This was the opening scene of
Rider's presentation of Aaron Sorkin’s play A Few Good Men.
The show, directed
by Patrick Chmel, chairman of the Fine Arts Department, opened this past
weekend at Rider's Yvonne Theater and will be performed again on March 1 and 2
at 8:00 p.m.
This particular play
gained much attention when it was adapted into a blockbuster, Academy
Award-nominated film in 1992 that boasted an all-star cast, including Jack
Nicholson, Tom Cruise, Demi Moore, Kevin Bacon, Kiefer Sutherland and Kevin
Pollak.
A Few Good Men is an
innovative story of the death of a young military recruit at the U.S. Naval
base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, as a result of traditional, yet illegal
disciplining and the cover-up that surrounds his murder.
Rider’s
presentation of this moving story was tight and well-rehearsed, as a
militaristic piece should be. The actors put in many hours of rehearsal, and it
showed in their well-orchestrated scene changes, done by the cast with the
lights down, and in its near inhuman freezes when the focus was on another
level of the stage.
The show is
difficult in the intense demand on the actors for high emotion throughout the
show, especially the parts of Lt. Cmdr. Joanne Galloway, played by junior Katierose
Donohue, and Lt. Col. Nathan Jessep, played by freshman Justin T. Beazer, who
both delivered knockout performances.
These particular performers hit their roles on the mark and
Beazer’s Jessep was the epitome of intimidation.
Also standing out
was John Patrick Mintz whose witty nature sent rolls of laughter through the
audience at every appropriate moment, as Lt. Sam Weinberg.
Rick McKelvey's
performance of Lt. Daniel Kaffe was choppy in places and his timing was a bit
off, especially in instances where the character’s smart-aleck lines
should have gotten a laugh. His
delivery, however, was mostly on target and his emotion was uncannily genuine,
especially in more somber parts of the show. McKelvey’s Kaffe came off as sleazy in the beginning
of the show rather than lovably conniving, which played well into the
character’s progressing transformation throughout the play. Most
importantly, though, in the courtroom scenes, the audience was rooting for
Kaffe.
As a whole, the show
was extremely well-directed and wonderfully moving. The actors’ blocking
afforded little movement in many scenes, which kept the focus on the utilized
section of the stage and added to the overall militaristic tone of the play.
The subject matter
of this particular play, relevant to Rider’s “Ethics and Social
Responsibility” 2001-02 theme, made it that much more interesting to
watch.
It causes an
audience member to internally debate on what is right or moral in the grand
scheme of things, and it also arouses wonder at the often-barbaric element of
the military in our relatively civilized society.