Burning Blue

The plight of gays in the U.S. military forces gets sympathetic but superficial dramatic treatment in DMW Greer's "Burning Blue," making its American premiere in L.A. after a London run a few years back that earned it considerable --- and, to this viewer, rather mystifying --- acclaim.

The plight of gays in the U.S. military forces gets sympathetic but superficial dramatic treatment in DMW Greer's "Burning Blue," making its American premiere in L.A. after a London run a few years back that earned it considerable --- and, to this viewer, rather mystifying --- acclaim.

The plight of gays in the U.S. military forces gets sympathetic but superficial dramatic treatment in DMW Greer’s “Burning Blue,” making its American premiere in L.A. after a London run a few years back that earned it considerable — and, to this viewer, rather mystifying — acclaim.

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The play is set in 1989 and years prior (pre-don’t-ask-don’t-tell), and concerns the fallout among a quartet of male Navy fighter pilots when a pair of them fall in love. Lt. Daniel Lynch (Michael J. Reilly) is the son of the commander of the Pacific fleet, which makes things tougher when a night at a Hong Kong gay disco needs some explaining to grim Navy investigator Cokely (William Sadler). Lynch’s dancing partner was Lt. Matthew (Ironman) Blackwood (Mark Deakins), a stoic yet sensitive type who semi-secretly composes music. His death during a routine practice mission ignites the probe, which also targets Lynch’s best buddy Lt. Will Stephenson (Tim DeKay) and the fun-loving hot dog Charlie (Boner) Trumbo (Martin McDougall).

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Greer’s play is neatly structured, with flashbacks smoothly integrated into scenes that follow the unfolding investigation and the havoc it wreaks on the officers’ lives. And director John Hickok, who also staged the London production , keeps it zipping along, despite an excessive 2-hour running time. But Greer’s characters are drawn in two shades of cardboard — black and white — and the writing is generally pedestrian and occasionally preposterous.

Cokely is the bad guy (he’s so evil he smokes!) who bullies Lynch and company with various ugly gay slurs (“When did they begin having anal sex?” he sneeringly asks Stephenson before accusing him of being on the team, too). His nastiness is rather cleanly ascribed to jealousy — he was the son of an enlisted man and resents the admiral’s son’s easy life.

Meanwhile, virtually every other character — including Cokely’s black fellow investigator — is won over to see the injustice of Lynch’s persecution. Good old boy Boner, who hails from the Deep South, at one point says earnestly to the ambivalent Will, “By allowing fag jokes to circulate, we became his enemies.”

The relationship between Lynch and Blackwood gets lost in the shuffle, moving in a few brief scenes from God-was-I-drunk-last-night to an avowal of mutual love. And yes, by the curtain Lynch is able to say, “I won’t hide anymore. No more lies.” The play’s events have a crude ring of authenticity — Greer was indeed a Navy pilot, and based the play on actual circumstances — but haven’t been developed with sufficient skill or insight to make them theatrically novel. The play’s tone veers uneasily from melodramatic to preachy.

Standouts among the cast are Deakins, who brings a convincing air of quiet anguish to the underwritten part of the doomed Blackwood, and McDougall, whose scene-stealing perf as the goofball Southern boy gives the play a nice jolt of adrenaline. His encounter with Cokely, when he blithely trumps the investigator’s homophobic aggression, is the best-written and funniest in the play.

DeKay is fine as Stephenson, though his last-minute emotional breakthrough scene is so abrupt as to be unplayable; while Reilly, who shares the role of Lynch with Andrew Halliday, is even stiffer than he needs to be as a man slowly growing to accept the truth about himself.

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Burning Blue

(Court Theatre; 99 seats; $ 30 top)

  • Production: The Court Theatre presents a play in two acts by DMW Greer. Directed by John Hickok.
  • Crew: Sets, Hickok; costumes, Karen Dusenberry; lighting, Philip D. Widmer; sound, Hickok; production stage manager, Kevin Carroll. Opened Jan. 31, 1998; reviewed Feb. 7; runs through March 8. Running time: 2 hours, 40 min.
  • With: Cast: Michael J. Reilly (Lt. Daniel Lynch), Tim DeKay (Lt. Will Stephenson), William Sadler (Special Agent Cokely), Robert Gossett (Special Agent Jones), Mark Deakins (Lt. Matthew Blackwood), Martin McDougall (Lt. j.g. Charlie Trumbo) , Michelle Azar (Nancy Spencer, Tammi Blackwood), Katy Boyer (Susan Stephenson).

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