Alex Johnson, right, playing the role of Lt. Daniel Kaffee, rehearses a scene with James Alviar, playing the role of LTJG Sam Weinberg, during a run through of "A Few Good Men" at Evergreen Playhouse in Centralia on Tuesday.
Katie Medford, playing the role of attorney JoAnn Galloway, stands at a desk during rehearsal of "A Few Good Men" on Tuesday evening at the Evergreen Playhouse in Centralia.
Rich Garrett, playing the role of Col. Nathan Jessup, right, rehearses a scene with Gulliver Kimble, left, playing the role of Lt. Jonathan Kendrick, and Shane Rivers, center, playing the role of LtCol. Matthew Markinson, during a run through of "A Few Good Men" on Tuesday evening at the Evergreen Playhouse in Centralia.
Marines Lance Corporal Harold Dawson, portrayed by Michael Green, left, and Private Louden Downey, portrayed by Jacob McCarthy, rehearse a scene from "A Few Good Men" on Tuesday evening at the Evergreen Playhouse in Centralia.
When he decided to suggest “A Few Good Men” for this season at the Evergreen Playhouse, director Matt Osborne said he was first motivated by his love of writer Aaron Sorkin.
Secondly, he said it’s just a really great story.
“There’s comedy, drama, there’s everything you want in a show, and that’s what makes great theater,” Osborne said. “You want highs, lows and in-betweens.”
“A Few Good Men” opens Friday at the Evergreen Playhouse and plays weekends through April 9. It is the fourth in this six-production series for the downtown Centralia theater. Osborne submitted both “Moon Over Buffalo” (which played Feb. 10-26) and “A Few Good Men” as potential plays for this year’s season. “A Few Good Men” was chosen by the playhouse board and “Moon Over Buffalo” (which was directed by Jeff Kingsbury) was the audience choice at the end of last season. This is Osborne’s first time directing both a full production and at the Evergreen Playhouse, though he has an extensive theater background, mostly at Centralia College. Last year’s production of “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee” was his first time acting at Evergreen.
The stage version of “A Few Good Men” being presented at the Evergreen Playhouse is actually the second of two Sorkin wrote. The first became a 1992 movie starring Tom Cruise and Jack Nicholson. The second version is the same story but with a few tweaks Sorkin felt it needed. No matter the version, the story is a courtroom drama revolving around Marines Lance Corporal Harold Dawson (portrayed by Michael Green) and Private Louden Downey (portrayed by Jacob McCarthy) who are accused of the hazing death of a fellow Marine while under orders from their superior officer. Attorneys JoAnn Galloway (portrayed by Katie Medford) and Lt. Daniel Kaffee (portrayed by Alex Johnson) work to defend the Marines while Col. Nathan Jessup (portrayed by Rich Garrett) attempts to thwart their forward movement as they inch closer to uncovering a far-reaching conspiracy. Steve Pearson, who plays Prosecuting Attorney Jack Ross, said Sorkin’s writing (which includes television series “The West Wing” and “The Newsroom”) was one of the things that made him want to be part of this cast.
“I like the rhythm of Aaron Sorkin,” Pearson said. “It’s paced quickly and you have to earn your pauses”
Much like the original movie, the staged version of “A Few Good Men” switches quickly between locations in Washington D.C. and Naval Base Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Osborne said quick scene changes made for a challenge in staging, especially for a small stage like Evergreen’s. In the end, he decided on a fairly sparse set, featuring platforms and a military-esque tower, and basically allowing lighting to create scene changes.
“This show as it’s written, there’s no set design; no act one, act two, act three. He just trusts his words,” Osborne said. “He said ‘the actors have to tell the story’ not the set.”
“A Few Good Men” has a cast of 14 actors and one actress. By Osborne’s design, more than half of his actors are new to the Evergreen stage and a few more are returning after long absences from it.
“It’s a lot of fun to bring new people in,” Osborne said.
Medford, is one of those returning to the Evergreen stage after a very long absence. She said what interested her in being part of the production was first the story, which is a great courtroom drama where the audience gets to walk through the process of discovery with the characters. But Medford said the story also covers some topics that, while set in 1986, ring true to current politics. One of those is the conversation about women in America. Medford noted her character being the only female in the story and the tension between herself and the other characters. In one of the opening scenes, Galloway is introduced to a commanding officer who remarks on her being female and then says “That’s alright.”
“These marines have these high stakes and then Jo, being a woman, has her own high stakes in being a woman in the Marines, nobody likes her,” Medford said.
“A Few Good Men” features characters in active military jobs and getting the details just right has been one of the biggest challenges of this production, Osborne said. The playhouse was lucky enough to be able to borrow some uniforms from the Veterans Memorial Museum, as purchasing or making them would have been cost-prohibitive for the non-profit theater. Osborne said he was also fortunate to have the assistance of people from military backgrounds as help, such as his brother in-law, who is helping record cadence with the cast members that will become part of the soundtrack.
“That’s actually been the toughest part of the show – tradition, following the tradition,” Osborne said.
Osborne suggests “A Few Good Men” is most appropriate for audience members 14 and older for language and subject matter.
