STAGE REVIEW : ‘Morant’ Snaps to Attention at Art Theatre

The court-martial drama, “Breaker Morant,” was an Australian play before it was a movie, and the stage version is making an auspicious L.A. debut at the Los Angeles Art Theatre.

Actually, the play was seen locally last winter--CalRep in Long Beach had the U.S. premiere. That was a strong show, and this production is equally arresting and for essentially the same reasons: The texture is lean and hard and the action is vocally punctuated like riffs from a snare drum.

Australian playwright Kenneth Ross’ true-life story, set in 1902 South Africa, is about a trio of bush-ravaged Aussie soldiers who are tried by hypocritical British forces for murdering Boer prisoners of war.

The production crackles under John Hertzler’s visceral direction (not to mention his flinty, musty set design). This is a show of barrel-chested gusto. The actors playing the three defendants are Aussies, and many of the voices in the 15-member cast ripple in the air and certainly carry. This is significant. You seldom hear distinguished diction on L.A.’s stages.

Curiously, the weak vocal link is Robert Bruce in the searing role of horseman/soldier/poet Breaker Morant. Bruce too often mushes and swallows his words. He’s also a touch long in the tooth for the fiery Bushveldt Carbineer.

But, as producer, he cast the show with pearls. Steffen Gregory Foster’s earnest defense counsel is heartfelt, Peter Lindsay’s physically imposing soldier-on-trial is dynamic. David Grant Hayward’s arch, smirky aide to Lord Kitchener is deliciously pompous, and Granville Ames plays a poised, silky witness who reminds you of Robert Taylor.

Unlike CalRep’s off-stage military execution, here we see the craven act, see sparks flare from the fired blanks and freeze on the tumbling bodies. You may flinch but the production doesn’t.

The play was originally performed by the Melbourne Theatre Company in 1978. The film followed the next year.

At 11305 Magnolia Blvd., North Hollywood, Fridays, Saturdays, 8 p.m., and Sundays, 7 p.m., through April 15. Tickets : $17.50. (818) 763-3101.