‘A Few Good Men’ offers timely examination of truth and honor
Back Alley Productions opens legal drama April 7
Back Alley Productions is set to perform the Aaron Sorkin classic “A Few Good Men” in nine performances at Mars Theatre, 117 N. Chattanooga St. in LaFayette, Ga., beginning Friday, April 7, through Saturday, April 22.
“A Few Good Men” revolves around the tense legal battle and court-martial of two U.S. Marines charged with the murder of a fellow Marine, and the tribulations of their lawyers as they prepare the case to defend their clients.
The Marines are accused of accidentally killing another Marine in a Code Red, a violent military hazing performed on low-performing personnel. Daniel Kaffee, a Navy lawyer charged with defending the officers, wants to softball the case and get a quick and painless plea bargain. Then he begins to suspect there’s more to the case than the obvious.
“The trial really pits two outlooks on America in the cross hairs of examination,” says director James Reed. “It’s a story that is timely and relevant to our current political climate, especially regarding the balance of safety vs. openness, without political grandstanding or being alienating.”
Pushed by a female member of his defense team, JoAnne Galloway, Kaffee eventually decides to give the case an honest inspection. But, in doing so, crosses a high-ranking military officer named Nathan Jessup.
“There’s an open, honest, but vulnerable idea of America seen in Kaffee that could be viewed as naive or easily exploited,” Reed explains. “Then there’s a harsher America as seen in Jessup that is suspicious of others, closed and secretive, but perhaps safer. These two worldviews come crashing into each other, forcing the audience to examine its assumptions about safety, the need for transparency and to what extent the ends justify the means.”
“The trial really pits two outlooks on America in the cross hairs of examination.” DIRECTOR JAMES REED