`Few Good Men' performance gives up-close look at drama

`Few Good Men' performance gives up-close look at drama

The Few. The Proud. The Marines: Aaron Sorkin's taut courtroom drama about two marines charged with killing a member of their own unit made a terrific film -- but "A Few Good Men" makes even better theater.

Theater is up close and personal, never more so than at the tiny ICA performance space. You're close enough to see every detail of director Jerry Bisantz' spitshine production. Plenty of heat is generated when a rookie lawyer is pitted against a corrupt Lieutenant Colonel with a career to protect.

The circumstances surrounding the murder are shown in flashback, with Armando Acosta bearing witness to the brutal treatment his character has received at the hands of sadistic officers. Acosta's wrenching account, softly spoken through desperate letters home, is the heart of the drama. It is his murder which forces the trial.

The stakes couldn't be higher in Sorkin's yarn. Will justice prevail? Will the truth come out? The two defendants claim they were ordered to deliver a "code red" disciplinary action (which went terribly wrong) but the officers claim no such order was issued.

The truth is revealed to the audience in an eerie flashback scene when each of the individual platoon commanders receives an order from the maniacal lieutenant, played to frightening perfection by John Arnold. Each is singled out under a searing spotlight so that we concentrate on each man's face.

As platoon leaders, Keith Mascoll and Carl Gourdin must stand ramrod straight while the lieutenant rants nose to nose, and at the same time they must show the emotion behind an expressionless face. Every actor in Bisantz' cast pulls his weight and delivers the teamwork which makes this production soar like a B-52.

Owen Donovan Yarde portrays the lance corporal who, together with a private first class (Max Raynolds) is charged with the murder. Yarde plays him as the quintessential marine, the warrior who never gives up and never gives in. Yarde holds his body rigid like a clock wound too tight yet we see he is a man of deep convictions who would, if he could, protect his overwhelmed co-defendant.

Robert Sperlinga is the lawyer who can "handle the truth." His friction with Yarde goes way beyond Navy vs. Marines over how to mount a proper defense. More fireworks are sparked between Sperlinga and the female officer (Leigh Ann Price) assigned to the case and between Sperlinga and the top commanding officer, played with such intensity by Doug Marsden that you can't imagine anyone else, even Jack Nicholson, in the role. Kudos, too, to Jim Slabacheski as a simple, earnest corporal who gets a case of the jitters when he has to testify.

Less is more in Titus Blade Steele's spare courtroom set. Seth Brodie's starched and creased uniforms add to the clean, pristine military facade, John MacKenzie's lighting, especially for the flashbacks, sets the tone of each scene. Director Bisantz literally called in the marines (from Portsmouth Barracks) to train the cast and you definitely feel a military presence, an authentic attention to detail.

Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 8:00 p.m. and Sundays at 7:00 p.m. through March 5. Call 292-6406 for tickets.

Photo (Armando Acosta)