This is a printer-friendly version of an article from Zip06.com.
05/11/2017 12:01 AMNeil Simon did not glorify war when he wrote Biloxi Blues, his semi-autobiographical Tony Award-winning play that opened on Broadway in 1985 and was made into a movie three years later. He painted a vivid picture of his experiences as a young man in boot camp in Biloxi, Mississippi during World War II, waiting to be shipped oversees, showing the ugly side of human nature, the messy, complicated relationships, and the sidesplitting humor that only Simon could find in such a serious subject.
The play has staying power—war, sadly, is not something that goes out of style, and neither does intolerance and ignorance. And luckily, neither does love and wisdom and hope and resilience. And with a capable young ensemble cast under the adroit direction of Sasha Bratt, who directed another classic—Six Dance Lessons in Six Weeks—at the Playhouse last spring, this revival is topical and enjoyable.
Despite running more than two hours with intermission, the production moves right along like the train the new recruits are riding in the opening and closing scenes.
Zal Owen plays Eugene Morris Jerome, the narrator and aspiring writer in this comedy that has become known as Simon’s “Eugene trilogy,” sandwiched between Brighton Beach Memoirs and Broadway Bound.
Owen has the Brooklyn accent and Eugene’s geeky, ironic sense of humor down pat finding himself like a (gefilte) fish out of water in the deep South. Along with Arnold Epstein, his fellow New York Jewish recruit, they are constantly under attack by a host of anti-Semitic slurs from their fellow soldiers.
Alec Silberblatt deftly assumes the role of Epstein, the most nuanced and interesting character in the play. He captures Epstein’s intellectual angst and outsider mentality as he half-heartedly attempts to adapt to a world that could not be more foreign to the pacifist bookworm, who is mentally strong but physically weak. Although, in the chilling retelling of being tortured and humiliated by other soldiers in the latrine, Silberblatt’s delivery is somewhat flat in relaying the anguish such a horrible experience would elicit.
Epstein is the Yin to drill sergeant Toomey’s Yang. His job is to get the troops in shape for shipping out, forcing them to do push-ups and clean the latrines, if they dare to defy him by not cleaning their plates of the disgusting food they’re forced to consume. But they make light of it, referring to the creamed chipped beef, for example, with such silly comments as “Why would you cream something after it’s been chipped?”
Mike Mihm is on target in the broad role of the masochistic, fury-filled sergeant, battling his own demons, and keeps up the requisite level of intensity throughout. Epstein gets his ultimate revenge on his nemesis during an intense power play with the drunken Toomey pointing a loaded pistol at him.
Simon has carved out distinct personalities for the rest of the recruits, whom we learn more about in such scenes as the “Fantasy Game,” during which each man responds to the question, “What is the last thing you’d want to do on this earth if you knew you were going to get killed overseas?” After, they steal and read Eugene’s journal out loud, hearing how he sizes up his bunkmates and teaching the novice writer how much words can hurt.
The rest of the cast does a fine job of rounding out the production: Chandler Smith as Roy Selridge, the self-assured, jokester; Conor M. Hamill as the tough but not so smart Wykowski (from Bridgeport); Ethan Kirschbaum as Don Carney, who loves to sing (to everyone else’s chagrin) and is incapable of making the smallest decision; and George Mayer as the soft-spoken Hennesey, who is dishonorably discharged for a homosexual encounter. Interesting side note: Mayer, a native of Essex, makes an impressive theater debut in this production, having changed careers to acting following a short-lived career as a securities trader.
Only two women are in the script and don’t appear until the second act. Moira O’Sullivan plays Rowena, a local prostitute, who the men all visit while off duty, and in a touching and funny scene, teaches Eugene everything he never knew about sex. Eugene later meets his first true love, Daisy, a nice Southern Catholic girl played sweetly by Andee Buccheri.
Eugene has the last word(s) in the play as they’re shipping out: “I lost my virginity and fell in love, now all I had to do was become a writer and stay alive.”
Lucky for us, Neil Simon did both, and the 89 year-old playwright went on to give us decades of wonderful comedies on both stage and film.
The Playhouse has outdone itself with a swell set of the World War II army barracks by Glenn Bassett, complimentary lighting design by Tate R. Burmeister—who also created the nifty ’40s music score between scenes—and military-correct costumes by Lisa Bebey.
Biloxi Blues is at the Ivoryton Playhouse, 103 Main Street in Ivoryton, through Sunday, May 14. For tickets, call 860-767-7318 or visit www.ivorytonplayhouse.org.