Captain Ferguson's School for Balloon Warfare

If you enjoy watching documentaries on the Military Channel, "Captain Ferguson's School for Balloon Warfare" may be for you. But if you require conflict and character development with your theater, you can report yourself missing in action from this 70-minute solo work. Isaac Rathbone's one-man play tells the true story of the titular Army officer who employed dirigibles and balloons for surveillance and bombing during World War I. While Rathbone does impart some interesting historical tidbits—for instance, Abraham Lincoln approved a similar aerial unit during the Civil War, but it was scrapped due to budget constraints—there is little tension or excitement. The central dramatic question is "Will Ferguson get his balloons into battle despite resistance from his superiors?" Yawn!

There are arguments over tactics with a trio of heavily accented generals seen in silhouette, but much of the script is given over to Ferguson leading training exercises with his raw recruits—the audience—and supervising maneuvers over the fields of France. In addition, we learn little about Ferguson's personal life. He briefly mentions a wife and his childhood in Kansas, but his closest intimate relationship seems to be with a subordinate who appears as an unseen figure and an offstage voice. We are given scant reason to care what happens to Ferguson or his balloons.

Actor David Nelson does his best to breathe life into the dry proceedings. He makes Ferguson a nice enough but not particularly colorful fellow, definitely not one to emotionally invest yourself in. There is certainly enough going on in director Philip Emeott's busy staging, including projections, sound effects, and Nelson swinging from ropes and standing on chairs to give the idea of handling the balloons. A final sequence that simulates Ferguson ascending in a balloon is creatively handled, combining Chris Kateff's projections, Jennifer Rathbone's lighting, and Bradleyville Creative Industries' set design for a realistic effect of rising into the clouds. For these brief moments "Captain Ferguson" is airborne, but too much of the play remains earthbound.

Presented by Oracle Theatre at 59E59 Theaters, 59 E. 59th St., NYC. Aug. 25–Sept. 4. Tue.–Thu., 7:30 p.m.; Fri. and Sat., 8:30 p.m.; Sun., 3:30 p.m. (Additional performance Sat., Sept. 3, 2:30 p.m.) (212) 279-4200 or www.ticketcentral.com.