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THE LONG ARM OF MARTIAL LOWE
TimesLondonOnline.co.uk
Ian Johns
August 20, 2005
Aaron Sorkin’s courtroom drama led him to "The West Wing" and now
the West End. Some 20 years ago, a friend went away — and
changed Aaron Sorkin’s life."
“I was asked to ‘babysit’ his grand-father’s
typewriter for three days,” Sorkin has recalled of his days as a struggling
actor in New York. “And I found myself starting to write dialogue.”
The 44-year-old author has been writing dialogue-driven drama ever since,
most notably as the creator of the hit TV series "The West Wing", starring
Martin Sheen as the US president all liberals wished they had. Now his first
full-length play, the 1989 Broadway courtroom drama "A Few Good Men", is
previewing in the West End with Sorkin’s old "West Wing" star Rob Lowe.
It’s this play, and working on the subsequent movie starring Tom Cruise and Jack
Nicholson, that helped to shape Sorkin’s trademark style — machinegun dialogue,
crackling wit and political savvy.
“There is a distinctive rhythm to Aaron’s writing,” says David Esbjornson, the American
director of the West End production. “It’s sharp and terse with fast-talking
scenes — you definitely get a sense of velocity.”
Lowe takes the Cruise role of Lt. Daniel Kaffee, a rookie military lawyer who
defends a group of US Marines accused of a murder they insist was committed
under orders. Kaffee, refusing to plea-bargain as expected, finally clashes with
Lt. Colonel Jessop, the accused Marines’ commanding officer.
The idea for the play came from Sorkin’s sister, a military lawyer who was
defending Marines accused of assault at Guantanamo Bay. Then the 1988 US
presidential election shaped Sorkin’s thinking as the thrust of the Republican
campaign was attacking the patriotism of Democrat candidate Michael Dukakis
while his party failed to respond with effective vehemence. For Sorkin, it
seemed that simply wearing a uniform conferred an instant honour and
superiority: “Just because you hauled up a flag, you seemed to get a free ticket
to the moral high ground.” As Jessop tells Kaffee: “I have neither the time nor
the inclination to explain myself to a man who rises and sleeps under the
blanket of the very freedom that I provide, then questions the manner in which I
provide it.”
From first scribble to staging took three years. Sorkin had originally
conceived "A Few Good Men" as a screenplay but couldn’t make it work, so he
asked his agent to let him try it as a play. It opened on Broadway in 1989 with
Tom Hulce, Oscar-nominated for the title role in Milos Forman’s "Amadeus",
as Kaffee. But until that success, Sorkin still had to earn his living in New
York with the usual wacky survival jobs for a hungry actor, including wearing a
moose costume to promote a game show. His main job was tending bar at various
Broadway theatres: “I began writing "A Few Good Men" on cocktail napkins.”
Even in 1989, Sorkin’s use of a courtroom setting was seen by critics as
being a little dated. So how about now? “Some of the best things are
old-fashioned,” says Esbjornson. “It’s not as if every generation has reinvented
the playwriting form. And Aaron uses the trial that takes up the second half of
the play as a great way of exploring the tensions between the Marines and
regular Navy.” Indeed, as Frank Rich wrote in The New York Times of the
Broadway production: “It’s reassuring to watch familiar conventions being given
a new workout.”
While the play ran on Broadway (Bradley Whitford, who plays Deputy Chief of
Staff Josh Lyman in "The West Wing", took over as Kaffee during its two
year run), Sorkin began tackling the screenplay for the director Rob Reiner
("When Harry Met Sally"). “I had a lot of trouble with it,” Sorkin admitted
at the time. “I had to find the rhythm and the music of a movie, which is
different from a play.”
He believes that working with Reiner made him a better writer. He taught
Sorkin how to do the “walk and talk” — the characters would get out large blocks
of dialogue while moving from room to hallway to parking lot, usually in one
long shot. This allowed Sorkin to keep his lines without sacrificing visual
energy. Flash forward to "The West Wing" and you have all that
constitutional chat delivered while constantly on the move through the White
House corridors.
But this wasn’t the series with which Sorkin developed his own “walk and
talk” style. Days spent in a lonely room at the Four Seasons Hotel in Los
Angeles, working on revisions for the "Few Good Men" screenplay with only
ESPN and other cable sports channels as company, sowed the seeds for his cult
television comedy "Sports Night" (1998-2000).
Set in a cable sports studio, and featuring Peter Krause (later to find fame
in "Six Feet Under") and Felicity Huffman (Lynette in "Desperate
Housewives"), this had all the lightning-fast, almost sing-song repartee and
cameras swooping through hallways that one now associates with "The West
Wing". And like Sorkin’s White House hit, "Sports Night" was at its core
about work with a romanticised all-for-one ethos.
Before then, Sorkin had reunited with Reiner for the Capraesque romance
"The American President" starring Michael Douglas. According to what is now
screenwriting lore, he wrote some 385 pages for a 120-page script and kept the
overmatter. That provided the basis for "The West Wing".
Throughout his career, Sorkin has favoured chat over action. He’s not one for
making up plots. As he told the American Writers’ Guild last year: “I don’t have
stories to tell . . . I’m not one of these guys who grew up around the campfire
saying let me tell you another one, I got a million of them.” Instead, as the
Manhattan-born son of affluent, theatre-loving parents, he recalls being taken
to such plays as "Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf": “I just loved the
dialogue. It was like music to me.”
With "A Few Good Men" he has returned to a play that has evolved through
Broadway, Hollywood and national tours in the States — and at a time when it has
found a new resonance. “In the wake of Abu Ghraib, it has become a timely
exploration of military obedience vs ethical actions,” says Esbjornson. Will
West End audiences think the same? He and Sorkin await that verdict.
"A Few Good Men" is in preview and opens on Sept 6 at the Haymarket Theatre Royal, SW1 (0870 3802003)
ROB LOWE BEGINS PREVIEWS IN WEST END IN "A FEW GOOD MEN"
By James Inverne
Playbill.com
August 18, 2005
Rob Lowe begins previews of "A Few Good Me" at London's Theatre
Royal Haymarket on August 18, ahead of the official opening on September 6.
And, although the critics have yet to give their verdict, Lowe has already
become one of the West End's most warmly welcomed U.S. imports. After having reiterated
his determination to stay to the city after the July 7 London bomb attacks, he was paid a surprise
visit in his dressing room by the British Prime Minster, Tony Blair. Blair
thanked him for setting such a good example. Now Lowe will see if audiences feel
as well-disposed.
The production reunites Lowe with his writer on the popular TV series
"The West Wing," Aaron Sorkin. Lowe has had a stage career; he
appeared on Broadway in 1992 in A Little Hotel On the Side, but he's
best known for his screen credits, including "The Outsiders" and
"St. Elmo's Fire."
The play, which depicts a military trial, as Lowe's character seeks to
defend two soldiers accused of killing a colleague, was made into a film in
1992 starring Tom Cruise and Jack Nicholson. It debuted on Broadway in 1989
starring Tom Hulce.
David Esbjornson directs the London production. He has become a Broadway regular in
recent years with The Ride
Down Mt. Morgan; The Goat, Or Who Is Sylvia?; and Bobbi Boland.
John Barrowman plays Lt. Jack Ross. His stage work includes Anything Goes,
Chicago, The Fix and Love's Labours Lost in London, and Putting It
Together and Sunset Boulevard on Broadway. Recently, he's been
expanding his on-screen resume with roles in BBC-TV's "Dr. Who" and the upcoming movie of
"The Producers."
Suranne Jones will play Lt. Cdr. Joanne Galloway, the role played in the
movie by Demi Moore. She's best known in the U.K. for her regular role in the
TV soap "Coronation Street." Royal Shakespeare Company alumnus and Actors Touring Company
founding member Jack Ellis
plays Col. Nathan R. Jessep, the part Jack Nicholson played in the film.
Also in the cast are Michael Beckley, Dan Fredenburgh, Jonathan Guy
Lewis, Will Huggins, Andrew Maud, Robert D.Phillips, Charles Roe, Michael
Wildman, Peter Brooked, Jason Durran, Les Kenny-Green, Stephanie Langton and
Patrick Poletti.
Set design is by Michael Pavelka. Costumes are by Beth Hope Clancy, with
lighting design by Mark Henderson and sound design by Ian Dickinson.
For more information, call (0)870 901 3356.
Stage Door Outside Theatre Royal Haymarket
LONDON TONIGHT
July 27, 2005
Rob Lowe became famous as one of the Hollywood Brat Pack in films such as St. Elmo's Fire.
In recent years his best-known role has been as Sam Seaborn in The West Wing
Now he's heading from The West Wing to the West End starring
in the stage production of the multi Oscar (winner or nominated) AFGM.
He gave a press conference yesterday and afterwards gave just one interview, to us.
Here's what happened when Tamsin met Rob.
From bad boy bratpacker to clean cut White House staffer. Rob Lowe has come a long
way. All the way to the West End.
Rob Lowe, welcome to London.
Good to be here.
Exciting, you're on stage. Is this the first time on this stage?
This is literally the first time. Look at this amazing theatre. I don't think we have
anything like this on Broadway. I've got some butterflies.
Have you?
I do indeed, I do. This is a great play, it's a great part.
And it's your West End debut?
It is.
Does that mean the butterflies are stronger?
(chuckle) They are, don't rub it in, please. I'm already holding on for dear life.
It's a big part, I've got a lot to learn, um, it is, to be at this stage of my career,
to still be petrified (laughs), is a good thing.
The West End has been healthy recently, but there has been concern since 7/7.
Right.
Did it give you any pause for thought about coming here?
It didn't, it made me want to come more than before if anything. I thought, first of all,
just personally to pay back your country's amazing support for my country, is regardless
of how you feel about it you know is a debt I'm happy to pay.
I love, I believe in London. I'm bringing my family here, I'm putting them in school.
They're going to live here. I'm bringing children to London. London's gonna be just fine.
On a professional note, to do a play about protecting the world and its costs and
what it means to people's freedoms, right here, right now, is extraordinary. The play's
themes resonate. Will the cast be pushing it and have there
been any script changes? Themes that are already in the play now have an unbelievable resonance. It's
set in Guantanamo Bay, so you can't mention that word now without having a certain
sense about it and all that will make the audience's experience all that much more intense.
It's been a while since you've been on stage.
You know, it's been a while. That's the challenge I'm looking for, it's a muscle I
need to work again. I've been so busy with TWW for so many years and with
movies that er, I really carved this time out to go back to the medium of the
theatre which is where I started, but I just haven't had the time for it so its
been an adventure. I'm a little rusty but it's gonna be there.
This play is written by Aaron Sorkin, was that why you got involved?
Yeah,
I love Aaron's work, I think he's an amazing writer. We had a very nice success together
doing that show and, um, I always wanted to play Lt. Kaffee. I felt that I had something
to bring to it, hopefully that we hadn't seen before, and you know we'll see. (grin) It's,
er, we had a good table reading. I have my fingers crossed.
Did you give Tom a call, for a little bit of advice?
(licking lips) I was gonna call Tom Cruise but I was afraid he wouldn't be able to
handle the truth (laughs).
You see, that was a line. Is that still in there?
Would we cut that? Come on. That would be like cutting 'to be or not to
be'.
Rob Lowe has moved his family to London for the duration of the stage production – which has
a limited 6 September to
17 December 2005 (previews from 18 August) - and both he and Sorkin, who has
also flown in for rehearsals, started this week, repeatedly emphasised their
enthusiasm for working in the city in the wake of this month’s terrorist
activities.
“I can’t think of a better place to do this play than London,” said Lowe. “I
can’t think of a better theme for now than the need for or cost of protecting
the world.”
The actor, who insisted he does feel safe in the city, added: “I know there’s
been a tremendous cost for supporting my country’s war on terror, which is now
the world’s war on terror. I appreciate it and, in my own small way, I want to
pay that back.” Sorkin passed on messages from fellow Americans who’d spoken to
him before his departure. “Everyone asked me to convey their prayers, support,
love and empathy for this city and what it’s going through.” Lowe also said of
Londoners, “We’re with you and we adore you.”
HOW LONG BEFORE ROB IS KNIGHTED?
Time Magazine
The former West-Wing star is becoming Britain's newest spokesperson.
A high-profile London groupie paid a backstage call last week
on Rob Lowe, who was rehearsing for a West End production of A Few Good Men.
"I've got my underwear on, and someone says, 'You have a visitor,'" says the
ex-West Wing star. "Striding toward me, I see Tony Blair."
The day before, Lowe told reporters that more Americans should visit London
to show solidarity following the bombings. The British PM sought Lowe out to
thank him. Lowe now becomes Britain's prettiest spokesperson since Princess Di.
SORKIN SUSPICIOUS OF GOOD-LOOKING MEN
timesonline.co.uk
Good-Looking Man
“With very good-looking men, you’re
suspicious of their acting abilities,” Sorkin said at the time, “particularly
when Rob led a career in his twenties that had a lot to do with the way he
looked. But moments after his audition began, that was the last thing I was
thinking.”
Lowe admits that
he knew he was made for the part when he read the script for the pilot, which
had him waking up in bed with a hooker. “Not only did The West Wing have that
sort of zeitgeist, pop-culture explosion which happens from time to time,” he
recalls, “what was really rare was that it also had the credibility, the
smartness and the seriousness underneath it, which most shows that have a
zeitgeist appeal don’t have. I can’t think of another one like it. It’s like
Ken Burns’s The Civil War, but on the cover of Entertainment Weekly. You’re
lucky if you have one or the other, but to get them both ...
“I’d find myself
in situations, shooting in Washington
where they’d say, ‘Madeleine Albright is coming down, can you wait to see her?’
Or I’d be in the Oval Office with President Clinton and he’d be pitching story
ideas! It was literally surreal.”
Lowe stayed on
the show for four years, but left after creative differences with Sorkin and a
dispute over money. Although "The West Wing" was intended as a star vehicle for
Lowe, Martin Sheen, as President Josiah Bartlet, became the de facto star.
Sorkin, to Lowe’s dismay, was reluctant to write any romantic story lines for
Seaborn, but Lowe was still grateful enough for the boost to his career to want
to work with Sorkin again. When he called Sorkin a few months ago to suggest
that they might do that, Sorkin told him he was planning a West
End revival of A Few Good Men.
“There are so few
extraordinary talents, but Aaron is one of them,” says Lowe. “When you have
someone like that in your life, who recognises what you can do and who can
bolster what you have to give, and where you have a history of the kind of
success that we had, you gotta try whenever you can to be in business with that
person.
“I obviously wish
things were a little more settled in London
at the moment, but it’s a great opportunity,” he adds. “You bond with an audience
every night anyway in the theatre, but I can’t even imagine what that bond is
going to be like now. It’ll be extraordinary. When Jessep says, ‘You have no
idea how to defend a nation,’ it’s going to be unbelievable. I can’t wait.”
A Few Good Men previews at the Theatre Royal Haymarket from August 18.
More "A Few Good Men"