One Man's War

One Man’s War is a show that reminds you of what theatre is all about. Action, drama, emotion…One Man’s War provides all this and so much more. Only once in a blue moon do you catch a show more emotionally stirring and heart-wrenching.

The play focuses on Doug Hulbert, a young gangmember on the streets of New York City in 1960. In exchange for all of Doug’s crimes being erased, he will join the U.S. Marine Corps for a minimum of six years. Even though the Vietnam War was looming, it was a path many of the young men in Doug’s position took.

Doug (played by Mike Marinaccio) narrates his story as he goes from innocent kid to macho gangleader to deadly soldier. Although the title claims it to be One man’s war, it is certainly not just one soldier’s story. The lives and stories of each soldier are heard and felt. Each has his own struggles and his own plights within the war – and nothing portrays these sentiments better than the lighting and set. A strobe light, multiple gunshots and the sounds of men screaming not only makes you feel as if you’re actually in a war, but it conveys the chaos in each man’s mind. Their struggles as they journey to survive both during and after the war.

At this time of war in the U.S., the play helps us to better understand the soldiers we send out there to fight. And while times have certainly changed since the 60’s, the play shows that the mentality of these soldiers has not. Fighting is fighting, killing is killing – and these men will have to come back with horrific memories of that war. And it is those memories that will haunt them as they try to live normal lives once again. After one struggle comes another, and to each his own war.