If you have any doubt regarding the parallels between the Vietnam War in the late 1960s and the current events in Iraq, run - don't walk - to the Next Act Theater production of Last of the Boys. Some of the play's dialogue, taken verbatim from the writings and speeches of Robert S. McNamara, actually draws gasps from the audience. While the play probably won't change anyone's views about Vietnam, it certainly makes the audience think. It also poses interesting questions that go beyond its war theme. For instance, it delves into the delicate and sometimes conflicting relationship between father and son, as well as romantic relationships and the bond between old friends.
Two of Milwaukee's best-known actors and artistic directors, David Cecsarini and John Kishline, square off as war buddies who've maintained their friendship over the years. Both actors are exactly the right age to play their roles, which helps to strengthen their characters. Cecsarini is Ben, who elects to live alone in a beat-up trailer located in a California toxic-waste dump. Kishline plays his only friend, Jeeter, who visits in the summer during school break (he's a professor who teaches impressionable students about the 1960s). This year, Jeeter has just come from the funeral of Ben's father. He chastises Ben for not being there, even as Ben expresses surprise that Jeeter would travel for days to reach the funeral.
Playwright Steven Dietz has a keen ear for dialogue and both actors make the most of it under Ed Morgan's sure- handed direction. The dialogue between these two men exquisitely expresses their longstanding bond. Most of their conversation consists of grunts and half-finished sentences. Although most of the play's best moments are reserved for scenes between Ben and Jeeter, a couple of women stop by to liven things up. One of them is searching for clues about her dead father in all the wrong places, including the Rolling Stones concert where Jeeter finds her. She is attracted to him as a survivor of the war that claimed her father. He's flattered that a woman her age would notice him.
Deborah Clifton is superb as the tough talking mother, Lorraine. In a drunken speech, she reveals her life story. At 19, she was a military wife who was forgotten in the war's aftermath. She talks about her young husband who died in action, and about the baby he never lives to see. Lorraine is left to pick up the pieces and survive any way she can. Now, years later, it's obvious that hard times have broken her spirit and damaged her daughter as well.
Kelli Nonnemacher, as the daughter, is somewhat less adept in bringing out the layers in her confused character. However, she is convincing in her attachment to Jeeter and her love-hate relationship with her mother.
Dietz uses an odd device to insert the words of Robert S. McNamara into the script, and the appearance of a ghost is also a bit puzzling. Aside from these glitches, Dietz has crafted a compelling and complex play that seems tailor-made for Baby Boomers. In essence, the play delivers a portrait of how the Vietnam War changed the lives of these characters, as well as those of many Americans who lived through this tumultuous period. Although Iraq is never mentioned in Last of the Boys, the play's chilling relevance to current events makes the point even clearer.
