A FEW GOOD MEN

A DRAMATURGY PACKET

JONAH ROSENBERG

12/30/16

ADAM WILKINS

Hart

A Few Good Men tells the story of military

defense lawyers who have the task of defending two

Guantanamo Bay naval officers accused of murdering a fellow marine as a result

of hazing. During the investigation, it becomes clear the two accused men

committed the crime under orders and were involved in a cover-up to protect

commanding officers. At its heart, this play brings into question the marines

moral code which proclaims honor, courage, and commitment as its guiding

principles. The lawyers work endlessly to fight for justice and shatter the status

quo in the military in which those in power are not held accountable for their

actions. The play tackles abuse of power as well as corruption which both are

relevant issues in todays American society. The play puts an ethical dilemma for

its viewers. Should the accused marines have been obedient to their

commanders or their conscience?

The lawyers ultimately decide that

justice must be fought for and truth

must be exposed.

Historical, cultural and social

material

A few good men is set in

Guantanamo Bay naval prison,
which is in Cuba, in the 1986. The play is based on true events that took
place at Guantanamo Bay, though various details were changed for
dramatic purposes. Gitmo, which is the oldest United States Naval Base
outside of the US, has been a controversial issue for decades. Inside of the
base, is a detention camp, as well as a general naval base, in the detention
camp, high threat prisoners are held and the ethicality of the conditions has
been called into question. The inmates inside are detained indefinitely
without trial and several inmates were severely tortured this camp is
considered as a major breach of human rights by great parts of the world.
The detention facility was set up in 2002 under President Bush, due in
great part to the September 11th attack on NYC. The naval base goes all
the way back to the spanish american war when the land was used by
American forces to combat the Spanish troops. After the war the land was
granted to the Americans to build a base out of. The outer fence is
surrounded by a cactus curtain which is a 8 mile buffer zone of cacti and
land mines. In A Few Good Men, the main characters are part of the United
States Marine corps. The marine corps is an armed forces branch of the
Department of Defence, that operates on land, air, and sea. Lance
Corporal Harold Dawson and Private Louden Downey are stationed at
Gitmo, a navy base, because the
Marine Corps uses the mobility of the
navy to operate at sea. The Marine
Corps has a chain of command.
Downey is a private which is the
lowest in the chain of command. He
takes orders from the next highest,
Dawson, a Lance Corporal. Jessup is
a Colonel, the most senior field grade
military officer rank. Kaffe is in the
Navy, but he's a lieutenant. In the
military. In the play, the case ends up
in court where Colonel Jessups famous You cant handle the truth
happens. The corps have a special process for
handling military law cases and if needed, can
involves a special court martial, from the judge
advocate general branch of the Marines. A court
martial is used for any crimes committed by an
individual that is involving a military stance. The main
issue for that the court case is about is a hazing
case. Hazing has been an issue in certain sectors for
many years. The military has a very strict zero-
tolerance policy on hazing, however, many reports
state that not only does hazing in the armed forces happen, its brutal.
Theres a known motto in the Marines corps, that Peers correct Peers, and
too lookout and teach one another. This has enabled soldiers to brutally
correct each other. Its not just the military, almost half of all teens will
experience hazing before college.

Production history and stage production

A Few Good Men written by Aaron sorkin in 1988 was first produced in

1989 on broadway by David Brown, and directed by Don Scardino. The

critical reception was mostly positive, Even if the stage were not a

battleground of tables and chairs in gun-metal gray, it wouldn't take long to

recognize the terrain in A Few Good Men(New York Times 1989, FRANK

RICH). This quote from the New York Times brings light to one of the most

recognizable features about the staging of A Few Good Men. Most

commonly in the staging there is a courtroom as much as much of the play

revolves around such courtroom. There is a judge stand in the center of the

stage where the presiding judge sits, and to either side of the presiding

judge is the prosecuting side and the defensive side, Col. Jessup and Lt.

Kaffee respectively. Often some staging of A Few Good Men involves

staging of some holding cells where

Dawson

and
Downey are held when they are awaiting trial and where Kaffee often visits

them. Jessups and Kaffees offices are also often staged. Since the 1989

Broadway run at the Music Box Theater was so successful, Tom Hulce,

who originated the role of Lt. Kafee earned a Tony award nomination for

Best Actor. Following the Broadway run, the show toured starting in 1992,

around when the movie starring Tom Cruise, Jack Nicholson and Demi

Moore, was released and gaining great popularity. The Broadway tour ran

through the year and in 1993 the first international production in German

was performed taking the show abroad. In 2016 Aaron Sorkin and NBC
Biography
 Aaron Sorkin was born and raised in a New York

City suburb. As a child he had a special interest

in film and theater. In 1983 he graduated from

Syracuse University with a Bachelor of Fine Arts

degree in musical theater. From there he began

his career as a playwright. Inspired by a story

his military attorney sister told him about a case

she was working involving military hazing, in

1988 Sorkin found his first success with his

dramatic script A Few Good Men. He sold the

film rights to A Few Good Men and then wrote the screenplay for the much acclaimed

movie. After that, he continued to write screenplays for many other box office hits

including Malice, American President, Steve Jobs, and The Social Network.

In 1998 Sorkin began writing for TV. He scripted Sports Night, a fictional comedy

sitcom based on late night ESPN reporting. It aired on ABC and was cancelled after

only two seasons despite rave reviews. He went on to create and write one of the best

television shows of all time The West Wing, which earned Sorkin high praise. In 2012 he

originated the now popular TV show The Newsroom, a fictional show about a cable

news network.

In March 2016 Aaron Sorkin announced that he is partnering with NBC to bring A

Few Good Men Live. This has been slated to air early 2017.