An Officer and a Gentleman
Book by Douglas Day Stuart and Sharleen Cooper Cohen
Directed by Nikolai Foster
Curve, Leicester (Touring)
Monday 12th August – Saturday 17th August
It has become a tradition of mine to eat at ‘The Green Room’ in the Curve before the show starts. Not only is the food good and the service always friendly, but it gives me the opportunity to check out the audience for the evening. Tonight, it is most definitively women in their fifties and sixties, no doubt remembering the iconic 1982 film version of An Officer and a Gentleman with Richard Gere and Debra Winger. Everybody knows THAT scene. It went viral, before going viral was even invented. More of that to come, but it has certainly helped to pack the house tonight.
An Officer and a Gentleman tells the story of Zack Mayo (Luke Baker), a young Naval recruit striving to become a fighter jet pilot in Pensacola, Florida in the early 1980s. He meets Paula Pokrifki (Georgia Lennon) a factory girl who is also training to be a nurse. They are both urgently seeking escape in the form of self-advancement. Zack is fleeing the long shadow of his domineering father Byron Mayo (Tim Rogers) whilst Paula is desperate to escape the fate of her mother Esther Pokrifki (Melanie Masson), who has given the best years of her life to the factory with no hope of promotion.
We meet their friends Lynette (Sinead Long) and Sid (Paul French) who also hook up. There is notably much more chemistry between this ‘secondary’ couple than with Zack and Paula. This is the pair I am invested in, that I care about and that I mourn for when their story goes tragically wrong. This is due to a stylised, yet nuanced performance by French. When he is on the stage, I am transfixed by every subtle movement – a fleeting expression, a small sweep of his shaved head, the ever-present guilt and shame being tamped down. It is a mesmerising performance and Long shows her mettle by matching his intelligence with a force of her own.
This is America, post-Vietnam, with Reagan as President and the American Dream supposedly there for the taking. That is not always the case for these working-class characters wanting a better life. Hoping to buck the trend is Casey Seegar, labelled ‘Ghetto Girl’ by Gunnery Sergeant Emil Foley (tonight played by Chris Breistein). She is aiming to be the first woman to fly jets and Foster-Browne displays a fierceness in the role that has you rooting for her from the very start.
The soundtrack comes straight from the 1980s, with the likes of Cyndi Lauper, Madonna, and Blondie. There are plenty of pop and rock anthems on offer in this jukebox musical, perhaps even too many? At times, the songs neither push the narrative nor offer emotional payback, but the audience seems to be enjoying it. When urged to clap along, they willingly oblige.
The First Act feels rushed and characters barely have time to establish themselves and their back stories before we are propelled on to the next scene. I would like more time for the audience to be able to process and reflect on what has happened. By Act 2, we are allowed more space to do this, and Baker as Zack has scope for his character to become more fully realised.
There is also a very palpable sense of crescendo as we head towards THAT legendary scene. It does not disappoint as (Spoiler Alert), Zach ‘gets his jet’ and heads to the factory to sweep Paula off her feet. In many ways, it feels like the whole show has been aimed at this one brief crowd-pleasing moment.
If you loved the film and you love eighties music, then An Officer and a Gentleman is probably just the ticket for you. There were many here tonight reliving their teen years with abandon and relishing the romance of it all. You might even find yourself swept off your own two feet should you choose to join them.
Age Guidance 12+
Running Time – 2 hours 30 minutes (including 20-minute interval)
