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Review:
This experimental play is all over the map on political issues involving
the military. It covers Vietnam
retrospectively and, mainly, the (First) Persian Gulf War in 1991. The
playwright explores a number of issues such as friendly fire deaths, civilian
casualties, the motives for war, the problems of
Palestinians caused by Israeli settlements, and homosexuality in the
military, by manipulating the characters in a non-linear fashion.
The centerpiece of the story is the buddy relationship between Remzi Saboura (David Regelmann) and Craver Perry (Nick Condon). Remzi is a Palestinian American who seems to have grown
up in America
and understands the Isreal-Palestinian problem from
a distance. His handicapped sister, Fairous (Aamera Siddiqui) longs for a
healthy sibling relationship with him and wants him to be closer to his
Palestinian roots. Craver comes from the coal country in Appalachia,
Eastern Kentucky, specifically. The two soldiers bond
emotionally in a way typically expected in a military unit, but their
emotional relationship seamlessly blends into intimacy and frank
homoeroticism, without ever being explicitly sexual. This is true emotional
bonding and the deepest levels, with great tenderness and affection, growing
throughout the play. It just goes barely over the line of what would violate
the military anti-gay policy, but, remember, in 1991 Bill Clinton had yet to
be elected and “don’t ask, don’t tell” had yet to be debated and to come
about. The “Old Policy” (an absolute ban) was theoretically in place, although when deployed soldiers were needed and
rarely discharged (it was often difficult to get discharged for
homosexuality, since the military would assume that the motive was to avoid
deployment). What seems clear, though, is that this kind of deep emotional
bonding is necessary for men to fight together, and it is hard to believe
that either character would disrupt a deployed unit even when known to be
gay.
There is also a Green Beret ghost, Boxler
(Galway McCollough), who (along with Lue, played by Katie Leo) taunts the men, by bringing
back the issue of the My Lai massacre in the Vietnam
War.
The strongest performance in the play is David Regelmann,
whose wiry charisma seems eager to overcome all conflicts over ethnic
identity and sexual orientation, and argue ultimately for individualism, if
only he did not come to a tragic end, that constantly tugs the play forward
right to the last moments. The stagecraft was straightforward, with two enclosed
fames (movie proportioned) to show flashbacks and behind-the-scenes
actions.
Because this play covers so much sharp-edged material in a compact script,
it sounds like tempting material for independent film. How could a
screenwriter unwind this material into a three-act format? Perhaps the Vietnam
material is shown as an “Act 1,” with the rest the film showing the growing
relationship between the two soldiers with the backdrop of Desert Shield and
Desert Storm, but then one has to work in the two Vietnam-era characters.
There would have to be the issue of Remzi
reconciling his Palestinian heritage and visiting the West Bank.
Perhaps an ending could show Craver attending the 1993 March on Washington
and dealing with the debate over the military ban. This is tremendously
promising material, enough to make me slurp; but drawing it together as a
linear story that convinces one as a real film plot still sounds like a
screenwriting challenge (as an adaptation). But it ought to be tried. Of
course it would take $$$, maybe about 15 million to make (assuming
on-location shoots if the areas involved could become politically stable
after Gulf War II ends and Saddam and Arafat are gone)-- well, somewhere on
the upper end of independent filmmaking, bordering on historical epic film.
Yet it brings to mind films like The Quiet American. Maybe a company like Alliance Atlantis
would find this material interesting,
There is a new play The Eyes of Babylon (author Jeff Key??) showing at Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays in starting at January (3??) 2005 at 8:00
PM
Location: The Tamarind, 5919 Franklin Ave, Hollwood,
CA 90028
Reservations: (323) 960-7726; $15 All Shows
Here is a synopsis
provided to me by Aaron Belkin at the Center for the Study of Sexual
Minorities in the Military. Here is a synopsis:
“Told by Lance Corporal
Jeff Key with excerpts from his personal journals
from Iraq. The play follows him from
the morning of September 11th, 2001,
through his tour in Iraq, and on to his return to America. Key decides
that the time to stop lying about his sexuality has come and goes on to
use the ban on gays in the military to exit the Marine Corps. More the
story of a psychological and emotional journey culminating in spiritual
epiphany than a documentation of the war, this piece is a profoundly
personal look inside the conscience of a man faced with near impossible
decisions.”
I will try to see this as soon as possible, particularly when SLDN
arranges for it to show in the Washington DC
area (I presume this will happen) and provide a review.
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