Back House Productions presents
SAVAGES
A New Play by ANNE NELSON
with
JULIE DANAO-SALKIN BRETT HOLLAND JIM HOWARD JAMES MATTHEW RYAN
Directed by CHRIS JORIE
Set Design: LAUREN HELPERN
Lighting Design: BETSY ADAMS
Costume Design: REBECCA BERNSTEIN
Sound Design: JILL BC DuBOFF
Properties: JO ANN VENEZIANO
Production Stage Manger: SALMONE B. WEISSMAN
Press Representative: JIM BALDASSARE
LION THEATRE
410 West 42nd Street (between Ninth & Tenth Avenues)
March 8 - April 1, 2006
Anne Nelson’s SAVAGES is an account from the Philippines-American War
(1899-1914) and is based on the true story of Major Littleton Waller who was
tried for war crimes in 1902.
From the playwright that brought us the complex and compassionate Off-Broadway
hit “The Guys,” you would expect a full and multi-faceted treatment of this
event, which was a major turning point in the course of Philippine history but
merely a blip on the United States history radar screen. What you actually get
is a masterpiece. As the work unfolds and in after-show discussions, you begin
to realize just how consummate Nelson’s presentation of the past event is.
SAVAGES is an unbiased attempt to show all sides of war, and Nelson
brings together the illogical reasoning for conflict, as well as the clashes
between cultures, religions, regions, sexes, countries, military units, and
almost any other category you can imagine. Each side and viewpoint is
passionately positive that their cause is just and right. The war-weary Waller
(James Matthew Ryan), the jaded General Chaffee (Jim Howard), and the neophyte
Corporal Hanley (Brett Holland) bring to this war their belief systems, their
morals, and their convictions that the Philippines will be better off because of
them. The only real connection to the people they claim to be helping is the
regal Maridol Amaya (Julie Danao-Salkin), and although her lone voice gives them
pause, it is not strong enough to stop the course of history.
It is particularly harrowing to realize that we are still bringing something we
deem valuable to “savages” in other countries/cultures whether they want it or
not. Obviously, “savage” is in the eye of the beholder. And it is almost
impossible not to draw correlations with our efforts in Vietnam and Iraq. Nelson
paints a picture that is both embarrassing and painful to view, tempered by
humor and the inevitable human bond. SAVAGES makes us ask if it is true
that the past can predict the future, why is it that we refuse to learn from it.
- Laurie Lawson -