Buffalo Theatre Ensemble to unveil power play
![[Capt. Lee King is portrayed by David Goodloe.]
GLEN ELLYN – The thought-provoking drama "Defiance" will open Jan. 31, presented by Buffalo Theatre Ensemble, the professional Equity company whose home is the McAninch Arts Center at College of DuPage in Glen Ellyn.
The action, set at a Marine Corps base in 1971 at the height of the Vietnam war, is described as a collision course over race, women and the exacting cost of doing the right thing.
Revolving around a young black officer, “Defiance” is the second of playwright John Patrick Shanley’s “Church and State” trilogy, following his Tony- and Pulitzer Prize-winning show “Doubt: A Parable.” He won the 1988 Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for his film "Moonstruck."
"It's a tricky plot," director and BTE member Kurt Naebig of Lombard said. "There are some real twists and turns that will surprise people. My gut feeling [is] a couple [exchanges] will leave people gasping. One may leave people pretty choked up."
With political ideologies at odds across the U.S., the Marine base is contending with fresh young recruits preparing for war and soldiers returning from combat with a newly developed nihilism.](fb6c4c78-2719-4320-a525-ffd0835da1fb/image-pv_web.jpg)
[Capt. Lee King is portrayed by David Goodloe.]
GLEN ELLYN – The thought-provoking drama "Defiance" will open Jan. 31, presented by Buffalo Theatre Ensemble, the professional Equity company whose home is the McAninch Arts Center at College of DuPage in Glen Ellyn.
The action, set at a Marine Corps base in 1971 at the height of the Vietnam war, is described as a collision course over race, women and the exacting cost of doing the right thing.
Revolving around a young black officer, “Defiance” is the second of playwright John Patrick Shanley’s “Church and State” trilogy, following his Tony- and Pulitzer Prize-winning show “Doubt: A Parable.” He won the 1988 Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for his film "Moonstruck."
"It's a tricky plot," director and BTE member Kurt Naebig of Lombard said. "There are some real twists and turns that will surprise people. My gut feeling [is] a couple [exchanges] will leave people gasping. One may leave people pretty choked up."
With political ideologies at odds across the U.S., the Marine base is contending with fresh young recruits preparing for war and soldiers returning from combat with a newly developed nihilism.
[Lt. Col. Littlefield (Bryan Burke, foreground from left) and Capt. Lee King (David Goodloe) rehearse "Defiance," while director Kurt Naebig (back left) observes the exchange.]
"It deals a bit with racial [issues], with the sexual dynamic – power and the use or misuse of it," Naebig said. "It deals with religion. It takes place during a time full of conflict with old and new. We're dealing with a military commander who's trying to keep race relations in a good place on the base [and] prepare soldiers for what's to come. Some things start to go wrong on the base and in his own life."
To keep the tension ratcheted up for the audience, Naebig said the play will be performed without an intermission, running under 90 minutes.
Humor is also part of the show.
"There are quite a few laughs in it," Naebig said. "Shanley knows how to do some switches and turn a few phrases that make people even in the most serious moments laugh."
To dig deeper into "Defiance," Buffalo Theatre Ensemble offers audiences a pre-show discussion by the director and designers before the Jan. 31 preview performance, and a post-show discussion Feb. 8 with Naebig, actors and crew. A “Common Ground Discussion” will be announced during the run to provide an opportunity for audience members to share their thoughts.
[Kurt Naebig of Lombard directs "Defiance."]
"This play in a lot of ways feels like it's as tight and fast-moving as 'Doubt,'" Naebig said, noting that defiance in life isn't necessarily a negative. "How sometimes … it's exactly what somebody needs to do for the greater good. … Similar to 'Doubt,' it really makes you think of all sides for everybody and how, in some ways, difficult it is to be a human and do the right thing in the world we're in."
Providing his own boot camp for the actors, Naebig brought in two veterans to familiarize his cast with military protocol, behavior and commands from salute to about-face.
The consultants include Jose Alferez, a former Marine sergeant who served two combat tours in the Middle East, and is manager of the student financial assistance and veterans services offices at College of DuPage, serving more than 1,000 military-connected students every year.
The cast, in turn, has been educating a new crop of performers studying at the college through the Buffalo Theatre Ensemble Acting Shadow program, an opportunity for select acting and directing students to shadow a theater professional and gain insight into developing a character on stage.
[Students shadow the professional actors in rehearsals for "Defiance," presented by Buffalo Theatre Ensemble. In the back row are director Kurt Naebig (from left), shadows Brendan Flaherty, Trevor Frueh, Hamdan Suhail, David Mullally and Rima Househ, Nick DuFloth, Bryan Burke and understudies Becky Crawford and Phil Herbruck. In the front row are David Goodloe (from left), Robert Jordan Bailey, understudy Andrew Trystad and Harrison Weger.]
Naebig said the program is designed to take theater students through the process from beginning to end of what an actor does in a play. Each student is matched with an actor as mentor, then watches most rehearsals and memorizes the part.
"Their goal is to walk in the footsteps of the actors," Naebig said. "Whereas an actor is trying to create a role for themselves, these [students] are dealing with how other actors put themselves in it."
They then informally perform the play for friends and family.
The cast includes Robert Jordan Bailey as Chaplain White; Bryan Burke as Lt. Col. Littlefield; Nick DuFloth as "Gunney"; David Goodloe as Capt. Lee King; Laura Leonardo Ownby as Margaret Littlefield; and Harrison Weger as Pfc. Evan Davis. "Defiance" contains adult themes and language.
If you go
WHAT: Buffalo Theatre Ensemble presents “Defiance”
WHERE: Playhouse Theatre at McAninch Arts Center on College of DuPage campus, 425 Fawell Blvd., Glen Ellyn
WHEN: Jan. 31 to March 3, with a preview Jan. 31; curtain at 8 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday and 3 p.m. Sunday
COST: $40
INFO: AtTheMAC.org, 630-942-4000