The American Theatre of Actors, under the astute leadership of its President and Artistic Director James Jennings, has scored another success with THE BUFFALO HERO OF WWI The Wayne Miner Story, adding to its unbroken record of presenting socially conscious theatre of both literary and dramatic merit.
THE BUFFALO HERO, a play inspired by actual events, examines a significant moment in American history that carries weighty import for our times today.
The driving force behind the spotlight shining on this subject is playwrightdirector Kenthedo Robinson, whose devotion to the subject, painstaking research, theatrical skills, and unflagging perseverance are worthy of high praise.
Twenty-four year old Wayne Miner was the last soldier of The Allied Forces to die in WWI. The story of how he volunteered when no one else would for the eleventh-hour mission which brought about his death in the line of duty a mere three hours before Armistice was declared speaks directly to both mind and heart.
“Buffalo Soldiers” was the honorific name given to the Black Cavalry by Native American tribes who fought in The Indian Wars; the buffalo being symbolic of community, strength, abundance, and harmony with Nature. The buffalo, most particularly, was a model for how to live one’s life, a central tenet of the philosophy being that right prayer leads to right action. .
Kenthedo Robinson’s play is a point of entry into the life of a quintessential Buffalo Soldier. A good, plain, man, Pvt. Wayne Miner’s unquestioning commitment to his code of ethics was the core of his being. This sturdy foundation gave him not only the power to transcend the obstacles placed in his path by systemic racism, but also the strength to adhere to difficult moral choices that would have forced a lesser man to defer.
This play is clearly a labor of both love and conscience; a first-rate educational tool which furnishes us with an important piece of our cultural history’s mosaic, at the same time providing a fully sculpted power of example for us all.
This exceptional degree of care - and caring - extends well beyond the play’s raison d’etre. Discernment in casting a select group of actors who are excellent both individually and in ensemble, assembling a production team who deliver the visual and audio ambience with economy and grace, as well as exercising restraint from hyperbole in the clear articulation of promotional materials, all speak to both a unified aesthetic and unclouded judgment.
The hinge upon which the success of this play depends is the work of the actor who assumes responsibility for the title role which, for maximum impact, demands projecting the unaffected simplicity and idealism of youth.
If memory serves, it was the sculptorarchitect Gianlorenzo Bernini who proposed that it is more interesting for both viewer and artist when vice rather than virtue is portrayed in Art.
Alton Ray’s portrait of Wayne Miner is as elegant as it is dynamic, and disproves Bernini’s theory irrefutably. In the capable hands of Mr. Ray, this virtuous character is revealed as a latter day Everyman. His meticulously detailed portrayal is sensitive, penetrating, and unadorned by artifice. Although rather mature-looking to this viewer’s eye for someone tasked to play a twenty-four year old, his characterization is convincing. Ray hits every mark, touching the highs and lows of the script unerringly from first to last with a finely honed technique that is as solid as it is invisible.
Constraints of space prevent me from detailing my praise for each of the splendid supporting cast members, but I would be remiss not to single out Ms.D’s towering Mamma Miner as instantly iconic.
The play itself begins nobly, with a series of concise, well-structured, and eloquent opening scenes which sharply etch both character and situation.
THE BUFFALO HERO is a mixture of theatre, tribute, and documentary, a mix often fortuitous, sometimes uneasy. In the First Act, the playwright allows circumstances and the people ensnared in them to speak for themselves. The subtle craft of his writing leaves us, appropriately, to draw our own conclusions. In the Second Act, however, focus diffuses, and the velocity of developing events moves us forward with only sporadic urgency. We periodically slow down to dwell upon messaging - messaging which I felt was unnecessarily blatant, as those points were either implicit or had already been made.
The Finale of THE BUFFALO HERO is a grand, symbolic - almost operatic - apotheosis which, puzzlingly, is treated only cursorily, and would well bear expansion. In addition, I felt the lack of -THE - Wayne Miner monologue that would take us to the very center of his heart and soul.
That being said, Robinson consistently makes a series of powerful, thought-provoking, and uniquely pointed statements about the human condition. His play holds the stage securely, with one engaging situation after another, and a cast of characters only a fool could NOT love.
An extended run Off-Broadway should be considered, and a PBS telecast, at least at the regional level, is de rigeur.
Should it return to NYC – and if there is any justice, it will – I urge the reader to put it at the top of the Must-See list.
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