Page 15 - the NOISE APril 2013

Madre de Los Muertos by Jon Jensen is exemplarary of the artist’s converging style of late, at Mcsweeny’s.
rikos’ performance of A Few Good Men. A little while later I’m telling the same thing to my friend who asked me if she should check it out. “I better find a better way of describ- inghowgooditwas,”Isay,“Otherthan“really, really,” but there you have it.
On the Tuesday before opening night, I had the opportunity to talk with a few of the cast members.
When auditioning, christopher crockett, who plays Col. Nathan Jessep, tells me he didn’t have any particular role in mind, he had never seen the movie version of the play,
“I was actually surprised to get the role I did, I auditioned for the younger roles. Jessep is described a someone in his late 40s or early 50s, so this role was not really in my radar, but Scott really liked my reading of it.”
Usually Mr. Crockett is cast in comedies. I ask what it’s like to play someone with this kind of mentality, that is so different from past characters. “It’s very fun, it is also the complete opposite of myself, on the politi- cal spectrum, so it’s a challenge to try and get into that mindset. I’ve tried to do a lot of reading on the Marine Corps and to get an idea of what that head space is like.”
Currently a graduate student at Northern Arizona University, aaron Wilson, who plays LCpl. Harold W. Dawson, was born and raised in Mesa. “Ever since coming to Flagstaff I’ve been heavily involved in the music scene and theatre.”
Mr. Wilson gives me a little background on his character. “He’s one of the two marines that is accused of murdering a fellow marine,
PFC William T. Santiago,” he says. “The reason for the accusation is because they follow the orders of their superiors to carry out what is known as a code red, which is basically a hazing tactic to get a marine whose fallen out of line back on track. Unfortunately, the code red went wrong, and my character and PFC Louden Downey, played by Noah Bobby Creek, accidently end up killing our buddy.”
eric schultz, tells me about his role as LTJG Daniel A. Kaffee. “He’s like a rookie law- yer,” Mr. Schultz tells me. “The Navy paid for his Harvard Law degree and basically he has to serve three years in the Navy as compen- sation for their paying for his education. In the beginning, he’s kind of cruising and do- ing well plea bargaining, that’s what he’s comfortable with, and then he gets picked to do this murder case.
“He’s still trying to go with the plea bargain- ing route, but this pestering woman, named LCDR Joanne Galloway, senses something is kind of weird with the case, and wants to make sure that it’s handled appropriately. When she meets him, he’s lackadaisical be- cause he’s had success in the past with plea bargains. She’s the one that prods him and pushes him into really becoming the great lawyer that he is, that he doesn’t know he is.”
I had plans to see the play Saturday night, so I wasn’t planning on staying long at this rehearsal. As the play began, I started tak- ing photos, but immediately found myself hooked by the humor in the first few scenes. Humor gave way to drama, with lines de- livered so convincingly, I could feel the hair
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thenoise.us • the NOISE arts & news • APRIL 2013 • 15