A Soldier's Play

Last updated
A Soldier's Play
Written by Charles Fuller
CharactersCapt. Davenport
Sgt. Waters
Pvt. Wilkie
Cpl. Cobb
Pvt. Smalls
Capt. Taylor
C.J. Memphis
Cpl. Ellis
Pfc. Peterson
Pvt. Henson
Big Mary
Lt. Byrd
Capt. Wilcox
Sgt. Washington
Col. Nivens
Date premieredNovember 20, 1981
Place premiered Negro Ensemble Company at Theatre Four, 424 W 55th Street [1]
New York City, New York
Original languageEnglish
SubjectRacism, military life, police procedural
GenreMystery; drama
SettingFort Neal, Louisiana, in 1944

A Soldier's Play is a play by American playwright Charles Fuller. Set on a US Army installation in the segregation-era South, the play is a loose adaptation of Herman Melville's novella Billy Budd , and follows the murder investigation of the Sergeant in an all-black unit. The play uses a murder mystery to explore the complicated feelings of anger and resentment that some African Americans have toward one another, and the ways in which many black Americans have absorbed white racist attitudes.

Contents

The drama won the 1982 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, among other accolades. It was the basis for a 1984 feature film adaptation, A Soldier's Story , for which Fuller wrote the screenplay.

Plot synopsis

The story takes place at the United States Army's Fort Neal, Louisiana, in 1944 during the time when the military was racially segregated. In the opening scene, the audience witnesses the murder of black Sergeant Vernon Waters by an unseen shooter. Just before his death, Waters utters the enigmatic cry, "They still hate you!"

Captain Richard Davenport, a rare black Army officer, has been sent to investigate the killing. Initially, the primary suspects are local Ku Klux Klansmen. Later, bigoted white soldiers fall under suspicion. Ultimately, Davenport discovers the killer was one of the black soldiers under Waters' command. Waters' men hated him because Waters himself treated Southern black men in utter disdain and contempt.

As Davenport interviews witnesses and suspects, we see flashbacks showing what Sergeant Waters was like, and how he treated his men. The light-skinned Waters was highly intelligent and extremely ambitious, and loathed black men who conformed to old-fashioned racist stereotypes. Waters dreamed of sending his own children to an elite college where they would associate with white students, rather than with other blacks. In Waters' mind, Uncle Toms and "lazy, shiftless Negroes" reflected poorly on him, and made it harder for other African-Americans to succeed. For that reason, Waters persecuted black soldiers like Private C.J. Memphis, whose broad grin and jive talk made Waters' blood boil. Waters' cruelty and vindictiveness drove Memphis to suicide, which alienated the rest of Waters' men, and turned them hopelessly against him.

Shortly before he was murdered, Waters came to realize how futile and foolish his lifelong attempts to behave like a white man had been. His dying words, "They still hate you," reflected his belated understanding that white hatred and disdain of black men like himself had nothing to do with stereotypical black behavior, and that whites would probably always hate him, no matter how hard he tried to emulate "white" ways.

Productions

The play originally was staged Off-Broadway by the Negro Ensemble Company at the Theater Four (now called the Julia Miles Theater). It opened on November 20, 1981, and closed on January 2, 1983, after 468 performances. The original cast included Adolph Caesar as Sergeant Waters, Denzel Washington as Private Peterson, Larry Riley as Private C.J. Memphis, Samuel L. Jackson as Private Louis Henson, Peter Friedman as Captain Charles Taylor, and Charles Brown as Captain Davenport. The director was Douglas Turner Ward. The play won, in addition to the Pulitzer Prize, the Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Off-Broadway Play, the New York Drama Critics' Circle Award for Best American Play, and the Obie Award for Distinguished Ensemble Performance. [2]

The Valiant Theatre Company presented the play Off-Broadway at Theatre Four from November 19, 1996, to December 8. Directed by Clinton Turner Davis, the cast featured Wood Harris (Private First Class Melvin Peterson), Keith Randolph Smith, Danny Johnson (C.J. Memphis), Geoffrey C. Ewing (Captain Richard Davidson), Jonathan Walker and Albert Hall (Sergeant Waters). [3] [4]

The play was revived Off-Broadway by Second Stage Theatre from September 20, 2005 (previews), opening on October 17, 2005, and closing on November 27, 2005. Directed by Jo Bonney, the cast featured James McDaniel as Tech. Sergeant Vernon C. Waters, Anthony Mackie as Private First Class Melvin Peterson, Mike Colter as Private C.J. Memphis, Dorian Missick as Private Louis Henson, Steven Pasquale as Captain Charles Taylor, and Taye Diggs as Captain Richard Davenport. [5] [6]

Roundabout Theater Company presented the play's Broadway debut in January 2020, starring David Alan Grier as Waters and Blair Underwood as Davenport, directed by Kenny Leon. [7] It had given 55 performances as of March 8, 2020. On March 11, Broadway theaters were closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and performances of the play were suspended. The revival did not reopen on Broadway post pandemic, but instead went on a national tour for the 2022-2023 season starring Norm Lewis as Davenport and Eugene Lee as Waters. [8]

Film adaptation

Caesar, Washington and Larry Riley reprised their roles in the film version, A Soldier's Story , directed by Norman Jewison.

Television adaptation

In September 2021, it was reported that Sony Pictures Television will be adapting the play into a limited television series titled A Soldier's Story. Grier will reprise his role as Waters and also serve as executive producer on the series. [9]

Awards and nominations

Original Off-Broadway Production (1981)

YearAwardCategoryNomineeResult
1982 Clarence Derwent Awards Most Promising Male Larry Riley Won
Drama League Awards Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play Adolph Caesar Won
Outer Critics Circle Awards Outstanding New Off-Broadway PlayWon
New York Drama Critics' Circle Best American Play Charles Fuller Won
Pulitzer Prize Drama Won

Off-Broadway Revival (2005)

YearAwardCategoryNomineeResult
2006 Artios Awards New York Off-BroadwayTara RubinNominated
Drama League Awards Outstanding Revival of a PlayNominated
Distinguished Performance Award Taye Diggs Nominated
Anthony Mackie Nominated

Broadway Revival (2020)

YearAwardCategoryNomineeResult
2020 Tony Awards [10] Best Revival of a Play Won
Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play Blair Underwood Nominated
Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Play David Alan Grier Won
Best Direction of a Play Kenny Leon Nominated
Best Scenic Design in a Play Derek McLane Nominated
Best Costume Design in a Play Dede AyiteNominated
Best Lighting Design in a Play Allen Lee HughesNominated
Drama Desk Awards Outstanding Revival of a Play Won
Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play David Alan GrierNominated
Outstanding Fight ChoreographyThomas SchallWon
Drama League Awards Outstanding Revival of a PlayWon
Distinguished Performance AwardDavid Alan GrierNominated
Blair UnderwoodNominated
Outer Critics Circle Awards Outstanding Revival of a PlayHonoree
Outstanding Featured Actor in a PlayDavid Alan GrierHonoree
Outstanding Director of a PlayKenny LeonHonoree

Related Research Articles

<i>A Soldiers Story</i> 1984 film by Norman Jewison

A Soldier's Story is a 1984 American mystery drama film directed and produced by Norman Jewison, adapted by Charles Fuller from his Pulitzer Prize-winning A Soldier's Play. It is a murder mystery set in a segregated regiment of the U.S Army commanded by White officers and training in the Jim Crow South. In a time and place where a Black commissioned officer is bitterly resented by nearly everyone, an African-American JAG captain investigates the murder of an African-American drill sergeant in Louisiana following American entry into World War II. As the investigation proceeds, the events leading up to the sergeant's murder are shown in flashbacks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">LisaGay Hamilton</span> American actress (born 1964)

LisaGay Hamilton is an American actress who has portrayed roles in films, television, and on stage. She is best known for her role as secretary/lawyer Rebecca Washington on the ABC legal drama The Practice (1997–2003). She also portrayed Melissa Thoreau on the TNT comedy-drama Men of a Certain Age (2009–2011), Celia Jones on the Netflix series House of Cards (2016), Suzanne Simms on the Hulu series Chance (2016), and Kayla Price on the Hulu series The First (2018).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Alan Grier</span> American comedian and actor (born 1956)

David Alan Grier is an American actor and comedian. Known for his roles on stage and screen, Grier gained popularity playing multiple roles in the American sketch comedy television series In Living Color (1990–1994) and Reverend Leon Lonnie Love on the Fox comedy series Martin (1993–1997). In 2004, Grier was ranked no. 94 on Comedy Central's 100 Greatest Stand-Ups.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Taye Diggs</span> American actor (born 1971)

Scott Leo "Taye" Diggs is an American actor. He is known for his roles in the Broadway musicals Rent and Hedwig and the Angry Inch, the TV series Private Practice (2007–2013), Murder in the First (2014–2016), and All American (2018–2023), and the films How Stella Got Her Groove Back (1998), Brown Sugar, Chicago, Malibu's Most Wanted (2003), Dylan Dog: Dead of Night (2011), and The Best Man (1999) and its sequel, The Best Man Holiday (2013).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adolph Caesar</span> American actor (1933–1986)

Adolph Caesar was an American film and theater actor. Known for his signature deep voice, Caesar was a staple of off-Broadway as a member of the Negro Ensemble Company, and as a voiceover artist for numerous film trailers. He earned widespread acclaim for his performance as Sgt. Vernon Waters in Charles Fuller's Pulitzer Prize-winning A Soldier's Play, a role he reprised in the 1984 film adaptation A Soldier's Story, for which he received Academy Award and Golden Globe Award nominations, and won an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actor in a Motion Picture.

Judyann Elder is an American actress, director, and writer. She played Nadine Waters on the FOX sitcom Martin. She also played Harriette Winslow on CBS' Family Matters for the remaining eight episodes of its ninth and final season, after the departure of Jo Marie Payton. Elder is also a veteran of the stage who has appeared in scores of theatrical productions throughout the United States and Europe.

<i>Violet</i> (musical) Musical

Violet is a musical with music by Jeanine Tesori and libretto by Brian Crawley based on the short story "The Ugliest Pilgrim" by Doris Betts. It tells the story of a young disfigured woman who embarks on a journey by bus from her farm in Spruce Pine, North Carolina, all the way to Tulsa, Oklahoma in order to be healed. The musical premiered Off-Broadway in 1997 and won the Drama Critics' Circle Award and Lucille Lortel Award as Best Musical.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Denise Nicholas</span> American actress, social activist (born 1944)

Denise Donna Nicholas is an American actress. Nicholas played high-school guidance counselor Liz McIntyre on the ABC comedy-drama series Room 222 and Councilwoman Harriet DeLong on the NBC/CBS drama series In the Heat of the Night.

Charles H. Fuller Jr. was an American playwright, best known for his play A Soldier's Play, for which he received the 1982 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and the 2020 Tony Award for Best Revival of a Play.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ruben Santiago-Hudson</span> American actor and screenwriter

Ruben Santiago-Hudson is an American actor, playwright, and director who has won national awards for his work in all three categories. He is best known for his role of Captain Roy Montgomery from 2009 to 2011 on ABC's Castle. In November 2011, he appeared on Broadway in Lydia R. Diamond's play Stick Fly. In 2013, he starred in the TV series Low Winter Sun, a police drama set in Detroit. In 2021, he was nominated for best adaptation by the Screen Writers Guild for the film version of Ma Rainey's Black Bottom.

The Negro Ensemble Company (NEC) is a New York City-based theater company and workshop established in 1967 by playwright Douglas Turner Ward, producer-actor Robert Hooks, and theater manager Gerald S. Krone, with funding from the Ford Foundation. The company's focus on original works with themes based in the black experience with an international perspective created a canon of theatrical works and an audience for writers who came later, such as August Wilson, Suzan-Lori Parks, and others.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lucille Lortel Theatre</span> Off-Broadway theater in New York City

The Lucille Lortel Theatre is an off-Broadway playhouse at 121 Christopher Street in Manhattan's West Village. It was built in 1926 as a 590-seat movie theater called the New Hudson, later known as Hudson Playhouse. The interior design is largely unchanged, though as of 2024 it has 295 seats.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frances Foster</span> American actress

Frances Helen Foster was an American film, television and stage actress. In addition to being an actress, Foster was also an award–winning stage director and a founding member of the Negro Ensemble Company. Moreover, in 1955, she became the first African American to appear in a nationally broadcast television commercial.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charles Brown (actor)</span> American actor (1946–2004)

Charles Brown was an American actor and a member of New York City, New York theater troupe the Negro Ensemble Company. He was best known for his performances in Off-Broadway and Broadway plays by Samm-Art Williams and August Wilson.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jayne Houdyshell</span> American actress

Jayne Houdyshell is an American actress. Known for being a prolific character actor in theater, film, and television, Houdyshell has received numerous accolades including a Tony Award, two Obie Awards, and a Drama Desk Award.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peter Friedman</span> American actor (born 1949)

Peter Friedman is an American stage, film, and television actor. He made his Broadway debut in the Eugene O'Neill play The Great God Brown in 1972. His other Broadway credits include roles in The Rules of the Game (1974), Piaf (1981), The Heidi Chronicles (1989), and Twelve Angry Men (2004). He earned a Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical nomination for his role as Tateh in Ragtime (1998).

Graham Brown was an American actor known for his work in theatre.

Edmund James Cambridge Jr. was an American actor and director who was a founding member of the Negro Ensemble Company (NEC) and the Kilpatrick-Cambridge Theater Arts School.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Douglas Turner Ward</span> American playwright and actor (1930–2021)

Douglas Turner Ward was an American playwright, actor, director, and theatrical producer. He was noted for being a founder and artistic director of the Negro Ensemble Company (NEC). He was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play in 1974 for his role in The River Niger, which he also directed.

Arthur Wellesley French Jr. was an American actor and director, best known for his work in the theatre.

References

  1. Rich, Frank (27 November 1981). "Stage: Negro Ensemble Presents 'Soldier's Play'". The New York Times.
  2. "'A Soldier's Play' 1981" Archived 2005-01-06 at the Wayback Machine lortel.org, accessed November 18, 2015
  3. "CurtainUp Review. 'A Soldier's Play'" curtainup.com, accessed November 19, 2015
  4. Lefkowitz, David. "Valiant Soldier's Play Off-Bway" Playbill, November 21, 1996
  5. "'A Soldier's Play' 2005" lortel.org, accessed November 19, 2015
  6. Hernandez, Ernio. "Company, Halt: 'A Soldier’s Play' with Diggs, Mackie, Pasquale and McDaniel Ends Off-Broadway Run" Playbill, November 27, 2005
  7. Evans, Greg (Aug 19, 2019). "Broadway's Roundabout Sets 'A Soldier's Play' With Blair Underwood & David Alan Grier and Tony Kushner's 'Caroline, Or Change' Revival For 2020" . Retrieved Feb 24, 2021.
  8. "A Soldier's Play National Tour" . Retrieved December 24, 2022.
  9. Andreeva, Nellie (September 23, 2021). "David Alan Grier To Headline & EP 'A Soldier's Play' Limited Series Adaptation For Sony Pictures TV". Deadline Hollywood . Retrieved September 23, 2021.
  10. Libbey, Peter (October 15, 2020). "Full List of the 2020 Tony Award Nominees". The New York Times . Retrieved October 22, 2020.