THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, January 11, 1996 TAG: 9601110029
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E3 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Theater review
SOURCE: BY MONTAGUE GAMMON III, SPECIAL TO THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
LENGTH: Medium: 65 lines
``HOW I GOT THAT STORY,'' the Amlin Gray play that opened last week at Generic Theater, carries a haunting, eerie power in its tale of an American journalist covering guerrilla warfare in Southeast Asia. Unfortunately, the production assumes a curiously detached air that undercuts the script's tremendous potential.
Directed by Carl Derek McKinney, it's an interesting piece, assuredly worth seeing, but it's not the stunning theatrical event it might have been.
An unnamed reporter finds himself assigned to fictitious Am-bo Land, where U.S. soldiers are fighting against a nearly invisible enemy. A Buddhist monk immolates himself, Oriental bar girls hook up with discontented GIs, officers are fragged - that is, intentionally killed - by their own men, defoliant is a weapon, and the jungle surrounds everything in a country ruled by Madame Ing, the ``Dragon Lady.''
In other words, it's a play about Vietnam during the middle to late 1960s.
Ethan Marten skillfully plays The Reporter, whose determination to remain an impartial and uninvolved observer gradually gives way to an involvement with the country and with the people who exist outside and at the fringes of the conflict.
A prostitute with whom the reporter thinks he falls in love, and three other characters, are played by Jessmyne Dizon. Kelly LaGreca portrays the reporter's boss at an international news agency, an Army officer, Madame Ing, a nun and a soldier.
Matt Meyer plays various American fighting men, a photographer, a member of the friendly Am-bo Land Army, and a black market spy.
All turn in competent performances, but with a curious lack of involvement in their portrayals. Rather than creating separate identities for each part, the actors have made superficial sketches. The result is that one character is often distinguished from others only by costume and situation, rather than crafting a unique personality through mannerisms, voice and attitude.
Perhaps this detached approach was intended to mirror the journalistic objectivity the reporter is attempting to cultivate.
Yet, the reporter's inability to maintain his psychological distance from events is at the heart of the play. But by not becoming engaged with the characters, the production blunts the emotional impact of Gray's writing.
Familiarity with the script makes it easier to follow what is going on in several situations where the production isn't clear, and some of those muted moments are, regrettably, high points of Gray's work. A thinly veiled threat made by Madame Ing could be absolutely chilling, but is quickly glossed over.
Also lost are some wonderful pieces of harsh but hilarious comedy. A bit where the reporter, limping, tries to catch a plane out of the country was almost inaudible. An exchange between a foot soldier on patrol and the reporter lacked the sharp timing and variations of intensity that could have been at once funny and frightening.
There is a certain rough-hewn, collegiate inventiveness in the staging - with its newspaper-covered set, projected slides and video displays - that can be compelling. It's best not to get too involved with the pre-show videos, intended to illustrate the reporter's work in Dubuque before he went overseas.
Audiences will get the best out of ``How I Got That Story'' if they are willing to work at it. This show doesn't serve up easy material, nor does this production present it in the most accessible manner. by CNB