New York : Manhattan Theatre Club's Off-Broadway production of John Patrick Shanley's Defiance plays its final performance today at City Center Stage 1 after being extended three times.
Starring in the production is Chris Bauer as Chaplin White, Stephen Lang as Colonel Littlefield, Trevor Long as Gunney, Margaret Colin as Margaret Littlefield, Jeremy Strong as Private Evan Davis, and Chris Chalk as Captain Lee King.
Defiance opened at City Center on February 28, 2006 and is set on a United States Marine Corps base in North Carolina in 1971. Two officers, one black and one white, are on a collision course over race, women, and the high cost of doing the right thing. The play is about power, love, and responsibility – who has it, who wants it, and who deserves it.
According to notes, the play is "part of an intended trilogy of plays" by Shanley "that began with Doubt." "Doubt was about the birth of uncertainty in a person of faith set in a church school I attended in the ‘60s. Shortly thereafter, the country went through a cultural earthquake. The authority of most of our institutions was called into question, and a powerful cynicism took hold. In short, Doubt turned into Defiance, which is my second play about American hierarchy," John Patrick Shanley said in a release, "I feel doubt is an important and valuable exercise, a hallmark of wisdom. Defiance is a necessary step in the life of an individual and in the life of a nation, but it is an intermediate step – that’s why there’s going to be a third play."
The design team features set design by John Lee Beatty, costume design by Catherine Zuber, lighting design by Pat Collins, and original music and sound design by David Van Tieghem. Doug Hughes directs.
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