A Tragedy Set in Today’s ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ Military

Like the play “A Few Good Men,” Michael Norman Mann’s new drama, “Box 27,” at Actors Forum Theatre, aims to expose some of the deep, dark secrets of the U.S. military. Modest in means, scope and characters, the play attacks a controversial topic without biting off more than it can chew. Mann keeps his eye on the thematic ball, even if not every swing is a hit.

The theme centers on the current “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy of the military and gay soldiers in the ranks. In the words of the play’s hero, gay Marine Capt. Stephen Mills (Brad Bartram), “Don’t ask, don’t tell isn’t a solution. It’s an insult.” Stephen wants to be out of the closet, but he also wants to be a good Marine. And he can’t be both.

Mann makes things worse for him by putting Stephen and his father, Col. Marshall Mills (Del Monroe), on the same base, Camp Lejeune. When the son reveals his sexual orientation to his father--a father who has let it be known that he thinks gays are just above scum level--we have some kind of drama on our hands.

Only afterward do we wonder if an obviously smart guy like Stephen would lose all sense and blurt out the truth as he does in the play. But the contrivances are mitigated, in part, by the sheer intensity of the two performances: Bartram’s, because it reveals the quivering anger beneath a Marine’s stiff upper lip, and Monroe’s, because he depicts an upright Marine facing his worst fears. Mann refuses to turn the father into a gay-bashing stereotype, and Monroe fleshes out the role with tones of outrage mixed with regret and confusion.

“A Few Good Men,” with pat portrayals and an upfront agenda, also dallied in the kind of contrivances this play utilizes. But both plays let an audience enjoy the conflicts at the level of a real dogfight. “Box 27” does the earlier play one better in what it does not do--indulge in the seemingly inevitable military courtroom scenes. Mann smartly resists the cheap way out.

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Where “Box 27” is boxed in is in the third part of the dramatic triangle: Maj. Howard Curtis (Gary Miller), who is Stephen’s lover and Marshall’s best friend. Howard has flashbacks of meeting Stephen, and nightmares about being caught with him by MPs. But his torn passions for the Corps and Stephen aren’t fully developed, and Miller does not have the emotional range to fill in the gaps.

Mann seems unsure, in fact, whether this is Stephen’s play, or Howard’s. He’s written a kind of tragedy for both of them, but like the divide that keeps forthright Stephen on one side of the closet and Howard inside, the play feels divided. Director Larry Lederman’s cast, though, is fairly unified in its depiction of military bravado, obeisance and fear.

DETAILS

* WHAT: “Box 27.”

* WHERE: Actors Forum Theatre, 10655 Magnolia Blvd., North Hollywood.

* WHEN: 8 p.m. Fridays-Saturdays. 7 p.m. Sundays. Ends Nov. 10.

* HOW MUCH: $15.

* CALL: (818) 506-0600.