"Shakespeare
Goes to War"
John Fisher
 |
| Jesse F. Vaughn, Gabriel A. Ross, John Fisher & Sean Keehan |
When the narrator, Jack Fletcher, opens his
recounting of how his English teacher, Harry Smith, used the Bard himself to
mold and shape who Jack becomes as an adult, he actually opens a Pandora Box of
multiple tales and their characters, some of which happened in his lifetime;
and some, in his teacher’s earlier years.
We meet a kid who terrorized him in high school and a boy who became his
first love and kiss. We are introduced to
a male teacher, Mr. Bachman, who in ‘78 dares to wear a scarf and swish openly
about the classroom and to his favorite teacher, Mr. Smith, who is decidedly
more coy and private about his orientation.
We back track to see young Mr. Smith in prison camp befriend both a
theatre-loving commandant as well as the only black, American prisoner who
bunks with the white officers and turns out to be a good actor. Our story pauses along the way for intense
one-on-one conversations between Jack and his father on why being gay is a not
good economical choice, between young Harry and his Nazi captor on why Brecht
is the modern Shakespeare, and between the two gay, high school teachers on how
much to open or not the closet door.
There is a story of coming out, a story of racial discrimination, and a
story of teacher learning from student.
Scenes of "Romeo and Juliet,"
"Othello," "Richard II" and "Coriolanus"
play out on both high school and prison camp stages, both with gender-bending
actors and surprising consequences. California
Senator Briggs plugs his initiative to ban gay teachers, and Ronald Reagan
appears to oppose it. The concept of
hero is tackled in all the complexity that Shakespeare himself once wrote, with
those who in some ways inspire us often also having streaks of evil that we
detest. And all is accomplished in this
initial production of John Fisher’s new two-hour, forty-minute play in a manner
that is overall captivating, entertaining, and rewarding.
John Fisher directs the rather complicated, many
scenes of the two acts as well as tackles admirably three critical roles. As Harry Smith, he at times has the shy
smile, folded arms, and calming nature of Mr. Roberts of TV fame while at other
times he totally sizzles with excitement as he urges his students to the stage
to show new boldness and risk-taking. As
Jack’s dad, he is a bit bumbling as he jogs around the house in his underwear
and a lot one-track-minded as he evaluates in his rather pompous, but
good-natured way everything in terms of bottom-line payoff. Finally, when he appears as Oberst Klambach,
commander of the German prison camp, he wreaks with a sinister air while also
impresses his prisoners as a well-read intellect and lover of high arts. (Mr. Fisher, as a jack-of-all-trades, also is
the Sound Designer for the production, concocting a rather constant chorus of
hidden-actor, people-generated sounds ranging from bullets and bombs to
dialogue of Hollywood film clips to trains, sirens, and bells. The overall effect sometimes works, and
sometimes seems a bit amateurish and distractingly silly.)
Gabriel A. Ross is the intense, angular-faced
narrator, Jack Fletcher, who appears at times ready to pop out of his skin as
he at first hangs back and then dives wholeheartedly into new discoveries of
theatre, politics, and boys (or at least one cute guy in his class). He is somewhat the same in his eagerness to
push new boundaries as war prisoner, young Harry Smith; and when he takes on
the roles of Juliet and Ophelia in their all-male, camp productions, he is both
hilarious and impressive in his performances.
Sean Keehan thrives in his roles as bad boy as
both cocky but cute high school-er Ryker Flek and as Louisiana-born and
-bigoted Captain Conroy in the wartime flashbacks. Jesse F. Vaughn doubles as WWII Captain
Washington, who seethes in steely silence against Captain Conroy’s racial slurs
and then proudly takes the camp’s stage as Othello. In the later time period, he is a
multi-talented and accomplished student, Jeremiah Danby, persuasive in goading
new friend Jack into registering to vote to fight the Briggs Initiative and
into coming home after school for a first-time make-out session (with lips
only, no hands). Taking the night’s
award for most parts with the most dialects and accents is Kevin Copps who
changes costume, nationality, vocals, and demeanor too often to remember all
the parts.
In the end, Mr. Fisher’s script stands up well
for a first-time out; but its complexity of scenes, characters, and story
segments could use some trimming in the next go-around. There are several, sudden diversions (like
escaping prisoners and dead bodies of soldiers) that pop in without much reason
or rhyme. There are some characters
that, while interesting in their own rights (e.g., Jack’s Dad or a couple of
Mr. Copps’ many personalities), and some entire scenes that, while important in
points made (e.g., the two gay teachers’ private conversation about surviving
all these years in a homophobic world), could probably be saved for another
story, another play. The impact would, I
believe, be even greater than it already is on the main story of two gay men –
one who in the end reflects on the other’s profound influence by anointing him,
“a teacher, a mentor, a hero.”
For anyone, who is most everyone, who has that
one teacher or mentor whose image and voice still vividly play out periodically
in your mind’s stage as an inspiration to be your best self, "Shakespeare Goes to War" is written for
you and should be seen in this premiere of Theatre Rhinoceros.
Rating: 4 E’s
Theatre Rhinoceros
continues its world premiere of "Shakespeare
Goes to War" at Thick House, 1695 18th Street, San Francisco
through November, 28, 2015. Tickets are
available at http://www.therhino.org .
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