The post-Vietnam setting, complete with wounded soldier and disillusionment, harkens back to "A Piece of My Heart." The set reversal between the first and second acts, relocating the audience from living room to porch, seems to be the poor man's "Noises Off!" The cast resembles a "School for Scandal" reunion, as six of the eight actors were involved in the play only a few months ago.
Despite its superficial similarities to recent Tufts Department of Drama and Dance shows, "5th of July" is a production all its own.
"5th of July" brings the audience to the rural home of Ken Talley (played by freshman Jeff Beers), a former activist whose tour of Vietnam left him with two fiberglass legs. Playwright Lanford Wilson's story unfolds over a 21 hour period spanning Independence Day of 1977 and the titular next day. What begins nominally as a reunion between Ken and his classmates from UC-Berkley, the now-married John and Gwen, turns complicated and confrontational as the characters begin saying what they mean and releasing pent-up emotions.
The show moves from jocular scenes of a slightly dysfunctional family (punctuated by junior Brendan Shea's comic turns as the perpetually Keanu-esque Wes) to more provocative dialogue and tense interactions. Ultimately, the audience realizes it has not witnessed a day-in-the-life glimpse into Ken's home, but rather has seen one of the more defining 21 hour runs in the lives of Ken and his companions.
Senior Aristotle Kousakis, who plays John, points out that the title asks the audience to think about what happens next, after the stage lights fade out. "The show looks at how you deal with the loss and change that you've had," said Kousakis, "and how you choose to go on after that." A piece of the show's intermission music, courtesy of Crosby, Stills & Nash, captures this sentiment with the telling lyric, "We have no choice but to carry on."
In addition to its exploration of the loss and transformations of friendships, "5th of July" also calls to mind the issues surrounding the personal and emotional aftermath of war.
"The play is amazingly timely in many ways," said faculty director Don Weingust. With its study of the "relationship to war, the reaction to war, and questions of 'family values' that it raises, it's hard to believe that it was written 30 years ago."
For junior Kasey Collins (Gwen), it is the focus on personal change and growth, rather than on the Vietnam conflict itself, that separates "5th of July" from "A Piece of My Heart," in which she appeared during Tufts' 2004 theater season. "This play is more of a comment about how Vietnam shaped the outlook of that generation," said Collins. "First it made them feel empowered to enact change, but then it stagnated them and made them feel powerless."
Collins and Kousakis are reluctant to draw direct parallels between the topics covered by the show and the protests in which their characters participated and present day grumblings about the war in Iraq. Said Collins, "These characters were our age, [but today] you don't see the same kind of passion for global change."
The time period of this production is, however, hard to miss. The '70s penchant for decorative items of the burnt sienna, orange and dirty yellow varieties is captured on Ted Simpson's creatively cluttered set, and polyester and terrycloth rule the actors' wardrobes.
Each wardrobe detail, from a pair of white sunglasses to deliciously '70s platform sandals, can be given its due focus by the audience thanks to the small and non-distracting size of the cast. With only eight actors on the roster, "every single rehearsal was like cast bonding," said Collins. This intimacy helped the actors focus on the intricacies of their own roles. "You can see the growth of the other actors' characters and grow together," said Kousakis.
The firecrackers of the show are emotional bursts rather than pyrotechnic explosions, the characters patriotically subsist on cigarettes and vodka instead of hot dogs and hamburgers, and Uncle Sam makes way for the batty Aunt Sally. But beginning tonight, "5th of July" offers itself as a declaration of interdependence.
