The Critical Jury Is In On Broadway's Caine Mutiny

On May 7, Broadway's Schoenfeld Theatre welcomed a revival of The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial, the 1954 play by Herman Wouk based on his prize-winning novel. Set in 1945, the play centers on the trial of a young lieutenant who commandeered the U.S.S. Caine during a typhoon in World War II. In order to clear the lieutenant of the charges, his lawyer must prove that the ship's commander was mentally incapable of leading his men or controlling the ship. Were critics at attention?

Here's a sampling of what they had to say:

Rob Kendt in his Broadway.com Review: "Its question-and-answer rhythm of legal points lost and moral points gained is as rigid and reassuring as a military drumbeat. For some theatergoers, this predictable cadence may work more like a lullaby. Those who stay awake for the final scene, though, will notice that its formulaic structure isn't the only thing that's old-fashioned about Wouk's play, directed with crisp showmanship by Jerry Zaks. Its final confrontation, expertly set up from the play's first moments but still shocking in its abruptness, posits an unfashionably authoritarian view of wartime duty that wouldn't be out of place among the close ranks of our current commander-in-chief."

Charles Isherwood of The New York Times: "It is just possible that a stint weighing a worker's compensation case could offer more thrills than this eye-glazing attempt to resurrect Herman Wouk's 1953 play adapted from his novel The Caine Mutiny. Directed with metronome in hand by Jerry Zaks, this workmanlike production gives few clues to the enduring appeal of Mr. Wouk's tale of possible cowardice and possible insubordination… Mr. Schwimmer and Mr. Daly mostly stand around like talking flagpoles, going through the familiar motions of examining and cross-examining witnesses whose testimony tends to blur together, despite differences in age and temperament."

Clive Barnes of The New York Post: "There is nothing in the popular theatre like a good old courtroom drama to get the adrenaline flowing, the interest held, the nails bitten and the mind expectant. Well, that's the general idea. It doesn't always work…. It is an archetypal example of the well-made, wonderfully pleasurable but basically manipulative play. Well, not entirely manipulative, for at its own simplistic level it's a whole lot of fun and even thought-provoking. But it's not Hamlet. And it's not Faith Healer either…. Let's suggest that The Caine Mutiny is a guilty delight, and accept that with the kind of smooth-as-satin staging and general performance level it is getting here, that delight comfortably outweighs any guilt."

Howard Kissel of The New York Daily News: "As one of the few living Americans who has never seen Friends I work nights, I have no idea what kind of character [David Schwimmer] played on the show. What he projects on stage is a likable palooka, which is totally wrong for Barney Greenwald, the role he plays in Caine Mutiny. Greenwald is a street-smart Jew working as a naval lawyer during World War II. His knowledge of his obligations as a lawyer are at odds with his awareness of what the war means to him as a Jew. Schwimmer conveys none of this complexity. But then the production itself, directed by Jerry Zaks, seldom gets below the surface. The major exception is Zeljko Ivanek, who plays Capt. Queeg, the commander of the U.S.S. Caine, whose crew rebels against him on a crucial day in the war in the Pacific."

David Rooney of Variety: "Back on the same stage where it premiered in 1954, Caine Mutiny is still a well-made play with a share of suspense, but in Jerry Zaks' efficient but uninspired production, it rarely crackles. In this uninterestingly designed staging at least, the Navy drama seems stilted, unable to harness its awkward relevance for renewed vigor…. David Schwimmer diligently channels stiff-backed seriousness and conflicted integrity into Greenwald, but it's a bland, unmodulated performance that saddles the play with an inert center. The actor also fails to evoke the period of a drama set in 1945."

Justin Bergman of The Associated Press: "Ivanek, a two-time Tony Award nominee last seen on Broadway in The Pillowman, is easily the best part of an otherwise dry and tedious restaging of Herman Wouk's play… Lt. Barney Greenwald, played by David Schwimmer of Friends fame, doesn't appear to be very engaged in the proceedings, at one point falling asleep, as some in the audience likely may have… Schwimmer seems out of his element. He appears wooden at times—even for a military man in a court-martial proceeding —and delivers a few lines with the sarcasm of his television persona Ross from Friends, which seems incongruous."

Elysa Gardner of USA Today: "Schwimmer's portrayal…has the self-conscious, at times preening quality of a diligent but overeager student. His tonally repetitive line readings, particularly in the first act, aren't nuanced enough to relay Greenwald's conflicted feelings about representing a young man whose actions and attitude disturb him. In fairness to Schwimmer, much of the acting in Court-Martial has the flavor of posturing. Under Jerry Zaks' direction, Wouk's dialogue—not the most natural to begin with—is recited, shouted and imbued with a too-knowing wryness, so that the production can acquire the canned, melodramatic feeling of an old movie dragged kicking and screaming onto the stage."

Linda Winer of Newsday: "If there were a reason to revisit these old knee-jerk moral-conundrum theatrics, it would have to involve a nail-you-to-the-seat-quality ensemble and a director burning to pass the fire onto a new generation of warriors. Here, the cast mostly ranges from indifferent to competent… And the production follows the outline so conscientiously that we swear we can hear the play's machine parts click in…. After years of Law & Order, audiences should be able to anticipate the courtroom surprises before they happen."