Home and Bush Visits the Troops One Last Time

Signature Theater Company, housed in the Peter Norton Space on 42nd Street in Manhattan, has an extraordinary record as a company that focuses its season on one playwright or performer in remarkable productions. In years gone by, Signature has examined the work of Paula Vogel, Bill Irwin, August Wilson, Edward Albee, Charles Mee, and this year, the spotlight is on the Negro Ensemble Company.

Last night we saw "Home" written by Samm-Art Williams, which is more an epic poem than a traditional play. It ran originally in 1980-1981 and focuses on the life of an African American man who attempts to stay true to principles, through love, the Viet Nam War, prison, living in the big city, and his return to the small rural town where his life began.

The role of Cephus Miles, once played by Samuel L. Jackson, is performed by a passionate Kevin T. Carroll. There were times that I slipped into wondering how Jackson might have handled the incredible passion of this character. It might have been our front row seats that led me to believe that he was over the top sometimes. However, the performances by the two women, Woman One, and Patti Mae Wells, by January LaVoy and Woman Two by Tracey Bonner had such breadth and range that I forgave the excesses of Carroll's performance.

The language is elegant, poetic, clear, poignant, magical, and epic, and that is what makes this play so effective. My husband thought it was a bit dated, but I found the story too timely to be dated and the language so elegant that I was lost in the rhythmic cadence of the poetry.

The run has been extended to January 11, and the wonderful thing about Signature Theater is that tickets are only $20.00, because of subsidies from Time Warner. There is no such thing as a bad seat in the house, either, because of the intimacy of the Peter Norton Space. Click here for more information about tickets.

The timeliness of this play focuses on the decision of the main character Cephus Miles to refuse to serve in Viet Nam, because of the Commandment--Thy shalt not kill.

President Bush is now visiting troops in Iraq this weekend at the same time that ProPublica.org and the New York Times are reporting that there is a draft official history of Iraq, over 500 pages of it, that condemns the Bush administration for its lack of planning, waste of money, corruption, and just plain stupidity in its escapade into Iraq. Propublica.org shared the story with The New York Times.

“Hard Lessons: The Iraq Reconstruction Experience,” the new history was compiled by the Office of the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction, led by Stuart W. Bowen Jr., a Republican lawyer who regularly travels to Iraq and has a staff of engineers and auditors based here.

The report itself is not available yet, conveniently awaiting publication in February, 2009, after the inauguration of Barack Obama.