Defiance

According to playwright John Patrick Shanley, “it explores specifics of my life story as it overlaps with major changes in the social fabric of this country.” Defiance takes place on a North Carolina Marine base in 1971. Racial tensions are high as are antiwar sentiments. Lt. Colonel Littlefield, white, middle aged, wants to clean up racism on the base while Captain King, a young African American, doesn’t want to be made the example of an accomplished black man. Within the strict confines of the military mindset, Littlefield and King face off. This provocative new work is about power, duty and responsibility and what happens when defiance trumps all.