I’m sure everyone is familiar with the movie version of this play – Tom Cruise and Demi Moore versus Jack Nicholson back in 1992 which itself was based on the Broadway hit – so just a quick summary then: Rob Lowe plays Harvard trained lawyer Lieutenant Daniel Kaffee enlisted to defend two Marines ((Michael Wildman) and Louden Downey (Nick Court) accused of murder at Guantanamo Bay. He is assisted by pushy straight-laced Lieutenant Commander Joanne Galloway (Suranne Jones) and Jewish Sam Weinberg (Dan Fredenburg).

I was expecting the whole performanced to be played out in one boring court room scene with the audience having to rely purely on the script for entertainment. I was therefore pleasantly surprised by the smart sets as the scenes switch between Washington base, the court room (view point changing as we reach the climax) and the Bay. Even the lighting adds to the feel military feel to the whole play.

As for the performances Rob Lowe was the main reason I went to see the play and although he is no Tom Cruise he delivered a charming enough performance. To me he seemed surprisingly slight on stage with less of a commanding presence than I expected. However, he did have the best lines and delivered them with aplomb. In other worthy mentions Jack Ellis plays Jack Nicholson’s Colonel Jessep and although the well known line of “The Truth? You can’t handle the Truth” wasn’t delivered with as much punch – Jack Ellis played his role well enough.

Overall the play was much funnier than I expected (I don’t think I laughed at all during the movie) and if you get the chance to see it is definitely worth checking out.