Not About Heroes

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Not About Heroes

Bright Eye Productions at the Lounge Theatre 2

Reviewed by Neal Weaver

August 04, 2010

Socially prominent writer-poet Siegfried Sassoon (Josh Mann) was decorated for valor during World War I but subsequently became bitterly disillusioned about the mismanagement of the war, its dubious necessity and moral underpinnings. In a reckless gesture, he wrote a letter condemning the war to his commanding officer and also released it to the newspapers. He could have been court-martialed for treason, but the authorities wanted to avoid prosecuting a decorated war hero, so they declared him a victim of shell shock and sent him to Craiglockhart Hospital in Edinburgh, where he met and befriended fellow inmate and budding poet Wilfred Owen (Robert Hardin). He encouraged Owen in his writing, and they formed a passionate friendship.

Writer Stephen MacDonald has obviously deeply researched his characters in this biographical play, but he has been perhaps overly reverent in handling his material. By confining himself largely to primary sources-the letters and other writings of the two men-he limited the dramatic potential and created a work that smacks more of the study than the stage. For most of Act 1, the actors are straitjacketed: Largely confined to reading poems and letters aloud, they have few theatrical scenes to play. Only in Act 2, in a sustained scene set in a military hospital where Owen visits a seriously wounded Sassoon who has been injured by friendly fire, do the actors break free and soar.

Both actors achieve a credible resemblance to their originals. Mann possesses the cragginess of Sassoon, and Hardin's center-parted hair imparts boyish charm and period flavor. In the last third of the play, dealing with Owen's death under fire just seven days before the armistice was signed, Mann achieves a potent elegiac tone and genuine stature. Hardin limits himself by being overcommitted to Owen's shyness and timidity, reducing the colors of his palette in an otherwise touching performance. Director-set designer William Hemmer provides a lovingly detailed production, but a less literal approach to the material might have served him better.

Presented by Bright Eye Productions at the Lounge Theatre 2, 6201 Santa Monica Blvd., Hollywood. July 18-Aug. 22. Fri.-Sat., 8 p.m.; Sun., 7 p.m. (323) 960-7744. www.plays411.com/heroes.