Randuwa II: Signature Theatre: Private Jones

"Private Jones" is based on a true story of young man growing up in Wales who has lost his hearing after a bought with meningitis. His world is turned upside-down when WW I breaks out and all the young men in his village volunteer to serve in the King's Army, but he is left behind. Then things get worse and the nation gets less picky and he is able to fake his way into the war. He has one thing really going for him, undistracted by the sound-world, he's the best marksman in his company of misfits. He manages to get by until an old rivalry erupts between him and another young man from his village and he is discovered. Discharged for his subterfuge, he is consigned to be sent home with the next group of wounded, when the pivotal battle of the war happens. Ignoring his orders he joins the others in a gut-wrenching bloodbath against the Germans wherein he actually saves the life of the young man from his village who ratted him out.

Signature Theatre's main stage is a big box with unlimited opportunities to orient the performance stage in whatever manner suits the designer. Private Jones is set against one corner creating a triangular space. The set rises to a second level where the live ensemble of 6 musicians provided the musical score. The main stage area is flanked by two irregular collection of boxes and crates that can slide and turn to form ramparts and take on a range of functional suggestive elements from a hillock in the Welsh countryside to munitions ready to be shipped from a factory in Cardiff.

Rarely to props rise to the level of mention-worthy; however, if there ever was to be an exception this would be it. With an extra-sensitive ear to the soundscape of the show, various items are used by the cast in real-time to mimic sounds. The rotation of socket wrench for the cocking of a gun, the frantic open and closing of an umbrella for the sound of started birds.

This is a production in search of an angel. It wants to go to Broadway, and I wouldn't be surprised if it makes it. The one aspect of the show that has been with it from its inception is its lead actor, Johnny Link. Link made his early success with TV and Streaming shows like, "Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist" on NBC, "Dear Edward" on AppleTV+, and Netflick's "My Life with the Walter Brothers" where he played Will Walter. Born hard of hearing, Link connected with writer Marshall Pailet early on portraying the role of Private Gomer Jones during both it's official public readings at the National Alliance for Musical Theatre in New York City, and then on through it's workshop phase at Goodspeed Musicals in East Haddam, Connecticut. From there, the show made it's world premiere here at Signature Theatre in Arlington, Virginia. In an amazing musical theatre experience, Johnny Link is the eye of the storm. Everything revolves around the benevolent rizz of his embodiment of Private Gomer Jones. If he doesn't win best actor in a musical at the 2025 Helen Hayes Awards, they are a meaningless exercise in sycophancy.

In fact, in a cast of flawless, infused with a sense of fate, actors all ticking at the top of their games, I was as blown away by other members of the cast--this is an ensemble shout out for an HH trophy, too. As you know, I never cheat before going to see a show by researching beyond whatever press might appear in my social media feed, like facebook. I don't want to taint my experience with the ideas of others. So when I opened the program and discovered the names of Jake Loewenthal, Erin Weaver, and Vincent Michael (formerly Vincent Kempski, which is to say, nee 'Vincent Kempski'--is de-enthnicizing your name the road to stardom?), I was thrilled. All three of these exceedingly talented actors have been on my beloved list for years.

While Loewenthal's role was minor by comparison, both Michael and Weaver had substantial supporting parts and both gave the performances of their careers. The production used a gender neutral point of view where both the women and men took on characters of male and female gender, as well as, characters of their expressed genders. So women portrayed male soldiers with the male actors in one scene and men portrayed female nurses with the female actors in another. It was both surprising effective and utter in step with the larger zeitgeist of the show. Which is to say that Erin Weaver (she/her) at the diminutive, over-compensating Welsh solder, King which his hyper-sexualized and foul persona was the performance of a life-time for this favorite local sister. Vincent Michael (Kempski) at Edmund "the Muscle," the village tough from Beaconshire, who intervention in the life of our hero was time and again antagonistic, until at hour of his near death, his humanity suddenly and powerfully changed Private Jones for the good. As an actor, Michael is fearless, and in this role he seemed transformed. I suppose I would call it maturity, though he is a young man. To Edmund he brought a new depth of nuance and engagement.

Among the cast members were graduates from both Howard and Gallaudet Universities. Some members of the cast were deaf and hearing impaired like Link, and ASL & BSL (British Sign Language) were used thought by actors on the stage. A trio of interpreters formed a flank on one side of the stage, while all the dialogue and sounds were projected on camouflaged screens on either side of the stage. The sign interpreters were on the opposite side of the theater from me and had a healthy group of sign literate audience members seating in the section directly in front of them; however the trio who sat behind me also only spoke in ASL, as did the young couple seated two seats to my right. Also the two women seated directly in front of me. There are no ASL interpreter specific shows to this production. All of them have the added resource of the interpreters. DC has one of the largest Deaf and Hearing Impaired communities in the United States, along with New York City, Rochester, NY, Fremont and the greater San Francisco Bay area of California, Austin, Texas and Tampa Bay, FL. It totally makes sense that Deaf-Equity on this level would begin in this way here. Inclusion is the best and most authentic education initiative there is.

Loved this show. Feel so grateful to have been a part of it at its inception. Imagine that its impact is only just starting.

Signing up for service in the war, Gomer Jones (Johnny Link) in the middle, left out.

Edmund, "The Muscle," (Vincent Michael) the village thug

Unfit for service, relagated to working in a munitions factory: in the front L-R: Johnny Link at Private Jones, Leanne Antonio as Nurse Gwenolyn, and Dickie Drew Hearts as her death brother, Henry. Hearts is a graduate of Gallaudet's drama school and is a member of the Deaf Community here in DC.