NO TIME FOR SERGEANTS

SURPRISE, SURPRISE, SURPRISE!

Peninsula Community Theatre

Theatre Reviewer: Ron Milovac

            Sometimes a theatre company does an old chestnut of a show that produces a groan when you hear they are doing it. And then you realize that you’ve never actually seen it. That’s what happened to me when I heard that the Peninsula Community Theatre’s final show of the season would be No Time for Sergeants. And even though in a way I had seen it before in the form of the TV show “Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.,” there were plenty of surprises both in the script and performances.

            No Time for Sergeants began in 1954 as a novel by Mac Hyman. The book chronicled the misadventures of a young man from the rural South who is drafted into the U.S. Army Air Force. It was then adapted into a play by Ira Levin, who later veered into more macabre territory with Rosemary’s Baby and Deathtrap. On Broadway, Andy Griffith played the main character, Will Stockdale.  The show made Griffith a star and he reprised his role in the movie version. Later he continued a likeable country character on his now classic TV show. After a few seasons, Griffith spun off the popular character Gomer Pyle into his own show, and based it on Sergeants.

In the role of Will is one of PCT’s regular players, John Cauthen, who gives a very enjoyable performance. Instead of thinking Jim Nabors, Cauthen wisely channels Andy Griffith. While he doesn’t do a Griffith impression, you can tell that he’s studied Griffith. He has his vocal inflections and cadences down, and adds a nearly ever-present smile.

Playing Sgt. Carter – or in this case Sgt. King, is Mike Diana, another familiar face at PCT. He employs all his comedy skills in expressing his frustration at Will’s unsophistication and naiveté. The two of them make a great pair.

Because they are stage veterans, it was no surprise to see Cauthen and Diana present well-developed characters with perfect comic timing. The real surprise of the show is newcomer Josh Hall in the roll of Ben Whitledge, a country bumpkin who believes that the infantry does all the work, while the airmen are merely helpers. Hall is a little ball of fire and every time he is on stage he ratchets up the energy level a hundred times.

Miguel Girona, Justin Giroux, Ben Jenkins, Sabastian Velilla and Mike Zeigler provide solid support.

The creative set design by Ellen Eames, John Wilt and Jim McLeod consisted of a series of folded panels representing various offices and the barracks. They even had the interior of a plane that was on a second level above the action. But the most impressive set piece was the latrine and a hilarious special effect that has to be seen to be believed.

Kudos to director Eileen Engel for putting together this gem of a show and teaching us that it’s possible to be surprised by something we think we know, when we really didn’t know it at all.

No Time for Sergeants runs through May 23 at the Peninsula Community Theatre. For tickets call 595-5728 or go to www.pctlive.org.