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A Soldier's Play

A Soldier's Play is a loose adaptation of Billy Budd's novella by Herman Melville, an American novelist from the renaissance period.

The play was written by Charles Fuller Jr. He went on to receive the Pulitzer Prize for drama in 1982 and the Tony Award in 2020 for the revival of this play.

There is a 1984 film adapted from the play with the screenplay by Charles Fuller. It was directed by Norman Jewison.

A Soldier's Play is a murder mystery that deals with several social issues. It is set at the United States Army's Fort Neal in Louisiana in 1944 when the military was racially segregated.

The play was first performed on Off-Broadway by the Negro Ensemble Company. It ran from 20th November 1981 to 2nd January 1983 with 468 performances.

The play also won awards like the Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Off-Broadway Play, the Obie Award for Distinguished Ensemble Performance, and the New York Drama Critics' Circle Award for Best American Play.

Plot and Characters

The play starts with the murder of a Black Sergeant, Vernon Waters. We don't see the killer but hear Waters say, 'they still hate you!' before he dies.

Captain Richard Davenport is Black Army Officer (rare in those times) and is sent to investigate the case. Though the local KKK gang (Ku Klux Klan) is the primary suspect for the killing, more suspects (bigoted white soldiers) are added during the investigation.

It is revealed that Waters -  Black himself - treated Southern Black men with contempt. As Davenport continues to ask questions, he sees Waters as a light-skinned, smart, and ambitious man with disdain and hatred for traditional and stereotypical Black men.

He wanted his children to be with the elite and white people instead of his fellow Black people.

Waters also persecuted Black soldiers like Private C.J. Memphis, which drove the soldier to suicide. The men turned against Waters and hated him for his ways.

However, Waters realizes how wrong he is in his thoughts and actions. He understands that his efforts were useless. His dying statement refers to racism and prejudices against Blacks by white men.

It is a moment of realization for Waters that the hatred has nothing to do with being stereotypical Black attitude but with his skin color, which cannot be changed even if he works harder and acts like a white man.