A Detail-Oriented ‘Tracers’ Revives the Horror of Vietnam

After three decades, the healing process from the Vietnam War is well underway--at least politically and economically. Nevertheless, a well-staged revival of John DiFusco’s “Tracers” by Blue Sphere Alliance at the Lex sharply reminds us how deeply traumatic the conflict was for its participants.

Authenticity is still the driving force behind this experience-based drama, a loose-knit series of vignettes about an infantry unit created by DiFusco and his original ensemble of fellow Vietnam vets. With the passage of time, the roles have passed to a younger generation who never experienced the war firsthand--but not without some degree of stage artifice showing up the fraying narrative seams. But the attention to detail still rivets--from the depiction of a “blanket party” (collecting scattered body parts) to the way teenage warriors embrace heroin in a desperate bid for solace from the incomprehensible insanity that surrounds them.

Unlike many a Vietnam saga, “Tracers” takes care to show how individuality is systematically stripped away during basic training. The late Stanley Kubrick’s “Full Metal Jacket” also made that rare but essential link between soldiers’ past lives and the killing machines they become, though here DiFusco also permits a glimpse into the compassion that underlies the iron-fisted drill instructor’s (Mik Scriba’s) harsh tactics.

In combat, too much insight can be bad for one’s health, as an unusually bookish soldier (Morgan H. Margolis) discovers when he befriends a cynical medic (Charlie Volkens). For the most part, poignant floundering in a conflict whose purpose is never clear is the fate of these troops (Russell Daniels, JR Craig, Kurt Caceres, David Sean Robinson, Seth Peterson, Joel West and Stevie Johnson).

One potential point of confusion in Richard Embardo’s staging is the alternate ending that follows the individual recaps of the characters’ postwar lives. While powerful in its own right, it steers the piece in a completely different direction, with arguable advantages to showing a potential outcome only somewhat grimmer than the one already established through a series of well-delivered monologues. In any event, audiences should be forewarned regarding the bifurcated reality.

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* “Tracers,” the Lex, 6760 Lexington Ave., Hollywood. Saturday, Aug. 6, 12, 14, 20, 8 p.m.; Aug. 8 and 22, 7 p.m. Ends Aug. 22. $12-$15. (323) 655-TKTS. Running time: 2 hours, 40 minutes.