Defiance is the story of two Marine officers and a Navy Chaplain [more detailed synopsis] at MCB Camp Lejeune, NC, in 1971. Vietnam is winding down, and the base is having a problem with Marines that don’t reflect the pride of the service. The brig is rapidly filling, and there are racial problems on base. The non-violence of Martin Luther King has been replaced with “black power”, and there is a growing divide between white and black on the base. Enter the new base command, Lt. Col. Littlefield. He’s been in the Marines since Korea, and believes that a Marine unit must think and act as one. His goal: fix the problem. To do this, he starts working with a young and rising black officer, Capt. Lee King, currently in the J.A.G. office prosecuting the court martial backlog. He also works with the new base chaplain, LT White. The Chaplain believes the answer is through the moral authority of God (and thus Church), but the Col. dismisses him, believing the only authority the unit needs is his. The Col. is authority: he lives by the order he receives and gives, having no moral compass of his own. All must follow: his staff, his unit, and his wife. His son, however, has defied him, running away from the draft to Canada.
Capt. King, on the other hand, believes there is a race problem, but it is endemic. He wants to not see it, having joined the service to be a career officer and blend in–being judged on his performance, not his skin. When pressed by the Col., he provides an example of the problem: housing discrimnation at off-base housing. The Col. decides to do something about it. He does. At the officers dance, the Capt. learns how proud the Col. is for having done this. He also learns the Col. stepped on a nail while undercover investigating the problem. Lastly, at the dance, the Col. informs the Capt. that he has spoken to the base General, and the Capt. is being moved from the J.A.G. office to be the Col.’s Executive Officer (XO), and will likely be one of the first black Majors in the Marines. The Capt. is uncomfortable about this, for it is clear this promotion is due to his skin color: the Col. wants him to be an example for the unit, and the Capt. just wants to blend in.
Cut to Capt. King’s office as XO. PFC Davis shows up, having been directed to Capt. King specifically by Chaplain White (bypassing the chain of command). Davis requests a transfer to Vietnam (so he can fight and die). King can’t do that, because the infantry is out of ‘nam. Davis presses, and it comes out that the reason for the transfer is that while at the apts. in question, Col. Littlefield slept with the PFC’s wife. Capt. King now has a dilemma: should he pass the case to Col. Littlefield, who could pull strings to get the PFC to ‘nam to protect the Col.’s career. He discusses this with the Chaplain, who details the delicate moral situation (which has parallels to the biblical story of David and Bathsheeba). The Chaplain raises the question of morals, and from whence does authority and the ability to lead arise: does it come from arbitrary political processes, or inner moral strength? Capt. King decides to confront the Col. on the issue. The Col. indicates he would deny the PFC’s transfer. Capt. King points out that this will come out into the open… and thus destroy not only the Col.’s career, but the Capt.’s as well. In the end, the Col.’s morals assert themselves, and he turns himself into the General.
As I noted before, this raises the issue of standing up for your convictions. There are a number of examples of it in this play. The Col.’s son stands up for his convictions, and dodges the draft. The Chaplain stands up for his convictions, defying the Col. to press the moral authority of God. The Capt. has no convictions, and wants to be a career soldier and blend in… but eventually does stand up (if only to protect his career) and presses the Col. to do the right thing — and in doing so, the Capt. defies his nature of blending in.
It was interesting seeing this play so recently after seeing “A Few Good Men” (AFGM). Both deal with the Marines, the nature of defiance, and coverups. In AFGM, the Col.’s loyalty is to his unit first and he never swavers–until brought down in court. He uses his enlisted men to cover up his misdeeds. In Defiance, the Col.’s loyalty is to the Corps. first. He attempts to use both the Chaplain, the Capt., and his wife to make the unit be in the Corps ideal, but falls down in those ideals himself. When he confronted with his mistake, he wants to cover it up, but the moral authority of his XO leads him to turn himself in… for the sake of the Corps.
As you can see, Shanley makes you think. He did it with Doubt, and he did it here.
The Playhouse production of Defiance was deftly directed by Andrew J. Robinson (who we all know as Garak). It starred Kevin Kilner as Lt. Col. Littlefield; Jordan Baker as Margaret Littlefield [note: it appears that Baker is Kilner’s wife in real-life as well]; Robert Manning Jr. (who did a remarkable job and has remarkable stage presence) as Capt. Lee King; Leo Marks as Chaplain Lt. White, Dennis Flanagan as PFC Davis, and Joel Polis as Gunney. All actors are members of Actors Equity. This cast did an excellent job.
The production had scenic design by John Iacovelli (UC Davis faculty), with costume design by Maggie Morgan (also UC Davis faculty). Lighting design was by Paulie Jenkins; video design was by Austin Switser; casting was by Michael Donovan C.S.A.; music composition was by Peter Erskine. Stage management was by David S. Franklin assisted by Hethyr Verhoff; the managing director was Brian Colburn, and the producing director was Tom Ware. As always, for the last ten years, the artistic director was Sheldon Epps.
With respect to the production itself, there were a few slipups. My wife noted a few: the wife, supposedly an SMU graduate, had dresses that were too short; the Marine officers wore tie bars instead of tucking them in; and the desk was from the wrong era. That didn’t bother me. However, I was bothered that the officers wore their insignias wrong, and didn’t quite have the Marine snap. They would have benefitted from having a military advisor, as AFGM did. Perhaps they should have hired SgtMaj Darrin Craig USMC, who served as military advisor for AFGM.
Defiance runs through next Sunday, February 18.
Next up on the theatre calendar: Thoroughly Modern Millie at the Simi Valley Cultural Arts Center on 2/25; They’re Playing Our Song at Valley Musical Theatre on 3/3; Big Bad Voodoo Daddy at CSUN on 3/10; “The Beatles Slept Here” (a Moorpark Melodrama from the High Street Theatre Foundation) at the Secret Garden Restaurant (tickets) on 3/18; Smokey Joe’s Cafe at Cabrillo Music Theatre on 3/31; and Cuttin Up’ at the Pasadena Playhouse on 4/7. I’ll be looking on Goldstar for tickets for The Last 5 Years at REP East (3/9 through 4/7); for The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee through Broadway/LA (tickets go on sale 3/18)… and through HotTix, tickets for Jersey Boys at the TaperAhmanson (tickets on sale 3/12).
Lastly: Congratulations to the cast and crew of The Beastly Bombing (my review) and Dirk (my review) for their nominations in the LA Weekly Theatre Awards. The Beastly Bombing is still running… go see it while you can!
