Theater review: ‘A Soldier’s Play’

A man stumbles onto a dark stage. A voice shouts “They still hate you!” and two gunshots blast out of the silence.

That’s how “A Soldier’s Play” starts. How it ends, two riveting hours later, is a surprise that director Matthew McIver’s fully committed cast spins too tightly to unravel right here.

So all I can say is that you should see the show yourself before it closes Saturday at the Des Moines Social Club if you: 1) enjoy a good whodunit, 2) appreciate great acting, or 3) want an interesting history lesson about race relations during World War II.

The Pulitzer Prize-winning story by Charles Fuller takes place in 1944 on an Army base in Louisiana, where a segregated unit of black soldiers is itching to be sent to the action in Europe or North Africa. Instead, they’re stuck doing dirty work at home.

“It’s a low-down dirty shame,” sings Private C.J. Memphis (Larry Moore, who knows his way around a blues riff). “They say we fightin’ Hitler, but they won’t let us in the game.”

The pastimes they play instead are all about pecking order, according to both the strict hierarchy of the military and the broader, more bruising rules of Jim Crow. As Memphis wisely points out, “Any man not sure where he belong gotta be in a whole lot of pain.”

At the top of the heap is the white commanding officer (“Iowa Nice Guy” Scott Siepker, clean-shaven for the first time in four years). Having never seen an African-American officer, he doesn’t know what to make of the black captain (actor and producer Ken-Matt Martin) who’s been assigned to investigate the murder of a black sergeant named Vernon Waters (Aaron Smith).

Siepker and Martin are worthy sparring partners. The former comes across as a racist good ol’ boy; the latter is all spit-polished ambition.

But it’s Smith’s performance that really stands out. Appearing in a series of flashbacks (aided by designer John Pomeroy’s lights), Sgt. Waters is “warm one minute, ice the next” — and the currents run deep. Smith reveals the drill sergeant’s own pain even as he pummels his subordinates with verbal and physical abuse. He is both the producer and product of discrimination.

The enlisted guys in the barracks (built with plain clapboard by Tim Wisgerhof) have plenty of reasons to bump off their ruthless drill sergeant, but the investigation points first to the Ku Klux Klan and a pair of bigoted white soldiers before turning to Waters’ own men. The actors Jerald Brantley Jr. and Freddie Fulton are especially convincing as an eager-to-please toadie and a mouthy rebel, respectively, but the entire supporting cast fills out their roles (and costumer Jill McMahon’s smart khaki uniforms) with thoughtful details.

If the show has a flaw, it’s only that it arrives at the end of summer, when audiences tend to favor fluff over serious drama. The 1984 movie version, “A Soldier’s Story” (with Howard Rollins and Denzel Washington), came out in November, when studios release most of their Oscar bait. (“A Soldier’s Story” was nominated for Best Picture but lost to “Amadeus.”)

But if last week’s anniversary protests in Ferguson, Mo., are any indication, a story about America’s race relations may be timeless. The murky themes aren’t clearing up anytime soon.

‘A Soldier’s Play’

WHEN: 7:30 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday, with an extra 2 p.m. matinee on Saturday.

WHERE: Kum and Go Theatre, Des Moines Social Club, 900 Cherry St.

TICKETS: $20.

NOTE: The show’s website, www.asoldiersplay.com, suggests the show is PG-13 due to adult language and situations.