REVIEW: 'The Things They Carried' review: One-man show recalls Vietnam with words, sounds
Pioneer Press
by Renee Valois
March 17, 2014
As the Vietnam War recedes in time, the shadow it casts gets longer -- and its shape changes. Men who felt rejected for fighting in the war in the 1960s are today asked to rise and receive applause for serving (as with the audience of this show).
But lest we forget the core of the war, "The Things They Carried" at History Theatre brings us back to the fear, the death, the courage -- and the lasting repercussions of guilt over killing other men and surviving when your buddies didn't.
Since the musings of the narrator of Tim O'Brien's 1990 book are more critical than re-enacting his memories, Jim Stowell's adaptation as a one-person show makes sense. Stowell places the narrator (Tim) in the present day -- more than 40 years after the war instead of 20 -- and veteran actor Stephen D'Ambrose is the right man for the job, with a thoughtful manner and the ability to shift between accents and styles of voice to convey different characters as he spins his stories.
Stowell's adaptation lifts much of the script directly from the book, but he rearranges things a bit -- much as O'Brien did in his non-linear telling. Those who've read "The Things They Carried" may be pleased by the faithfulness to the book or disappointed that the script seems almost like a reading versus a large-scale production.
Director Leah Cooper gives D'Ambrose a bit of writerly business to do as he recalls his time in Vietnam -- he repeats key phrases and then writes them in a notebook, flipping pages back and forth as if he's embellishing on words he has previously written.
But most of the action takes place in the mind's eye of the audience, as D'Ambrose sets a scene with words and the help of sounds that evoke place, from a jungle in Vietnam to the northwoods of Minnesota.
The story of O'Brien's distraught waffling between whether he should run to Canada or go to Vietnam to face death may resonate most with Minnesotans -- because Tim drives north and stays at the Tip Top Lodge near International Falls, trying to make up his mind. The elderly proprietor, Elroy Berdahl, "saved" him, Tim says, with his stoic silence and nonjudgmental witness. The poignant story captures an archetypal Minnesotan and the power of a place to affect our perspective.
Tim talks about his buddies in Vietnam, especially his best friend, Kiowa, who tries to get Tim to talk when tragedy makes him shut down. We get snippets of memories and details about Rat Kiley, constantly tranquilized Ted Lavender and Azar, whose pranks could become cruel.
We don't know how much of the stories are factual versus fictionalized, but they aim to reveal truth -- and keep alive long-gone friends. As O'Brien says, "Stories are for eternity, when memory is erased, when there is nothing to remember except the story."
Although the other History Theatre show running in repertory with this one, "Lonely Soldiers: Women at War in Iraq," has a far different aim -- to expose the reality of a recent war in an effort to compel reforms -- both shows demonstrate the power of theater to open conversations about war that could lead to a better world.
What: "The Things They Carried"
Where: History Theatre, 30 E. 10th St., St. Paul
When: Through April 6
Tickets: $32-40; senior/student discounts
Information: 651-292-4323; HistoryTheatre.com
Capsule: One man's vivid memories of Vietnam and its personal impact.