Beautiful Streamers

The Huntington Theatre production of Streamers is a solid, functional production of an important American play. But this Streamers lacks the intensity and shock that it had when I saw the film version many years ago. Perhaps times have changed. Perhaps we have changed. The effect, though, is a production that feels more like a historical artifact than one that makes David Rabe's Vietnam drama feel fresh and relevant.

Scott Ellis has assembled a fine cast and his direction certainly supports the text, but once again much of it feels like a stage version of the 1984 Robert Altman film, which itself felt rather, well, stagey.

So, I'm very glad I saw it, but disappointed that it no longer had the relevance it had two decades ago.