In 1944, a black Sergeant is murdered on a Louisiana Army base, and one tenacious investigator must race against his white leadership to unravel the crime before they unravel him. A hair-raising drama that painfully still reverberates today, the mystery of Charles Fuller's Pulitzer Prize-winning masterpiece has finally arrived on Broadway for the first time, directed by Tony Award winner Kenny Leon.
The structural bones of a procedural investigation thriller laced with cinematic flashbacks might be timeworn after years of movies and TV, but Leon invigorates the drama with interludes of song and movement that draw a blistering line connecting the men serving their country during wartime to those working as slave or prison chain-gang labor. Those stylistic flourishes - the first of them emerging out of darkness like increasingly unquiet voices from the past in the production's arresting opening - add spiritual heft to what is essentially a well-made whodunit.
Kenny Leon deserves much credit enhancing the play's message through directorial flourishes. He adds historical allusions to the African American experience throughout, beginning with a stirring call-and-response from the soldiers in a darkened barracks suggesting the early roots of African music. And later we see the troops marching in a thrilling sequence, combining military cadence with stylized movements. It all comes together quite powerfully, evoking the emotional wounds borne by a lifetime of soul-crushing hate. After some 40 years, 'A Soldier's Play' still hits home, summoning a world at war with itself.
| 1981 | Off-Broadway |
Off-Broadway |
| 2005 | Off-Broadway |
Off-Broadway |
| 2020 | Broadway |
Roundabout Theatre Company's Original Broadway Production Broadway |
| 2022 | US Tour |
North American Tour US Tour |
| Year | Ceremony | Category | Nominee |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play | David Alan Grier |
| 2020 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Fight Choreography | Thomas Schall |
| 2020 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Revival of a Play | A Soldier's Play |
| 2020 | Drama League Awards | Distinguished Performance Award | David Alan Grier |
| 2020 | Drama League Awards | Distinguished Performance Award | Blair Underwood |
| 2020 | Drama League Awards | Outstanding Revival of a Play | A Soldier’s Play |
| 2020 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Director of a Play | Kenny Leon |
| 2020 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play | David Alan Grier |
| 2020 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Revival of a Play | A Soldier's Play |
| 2020 | Tony Awards | Best Costume Design of a Play | Dede Ayite |
| 2020 | Tony Awards | Best Direction of a Play | Kenny Leon |
| 2020 | Tony Awards | Best Lighting Design of a Play | Allen Lee Hughes |
| 2020 | Tony Awards | Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Play | David Alan Grier |
| 2020 | Tony Awards | Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play | Blair Underwood |
| 2020 | Tony Awards | Best Revival of a Play | Charles Fuller |
| 2020 | Tony Awards | Best Scenic Design of a Play | Derek McLane |
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