A Few Good Men

This show has now closed, click here for a listing of current and future London shows

Previewed 18 August 2005, opened 6 September 2005, closed 17 December 2005 at the Theatre Royal Haymarket Theatre in London

Can You Handle The Truth?

In A Few Good Men a rookie Navy lawyer is assigned to defend two Marines on trial for the murder of one of their platoon members. He expects a plea-bargain, and a cover-up of what really happened. But, prodded by a female member of his defense team, the lawyer eventually makes a valiant effort to defend his clients and, in doing so, the play raises the questions of what it means to have honour, dignity and humanity in an increasingly complex world.

"Brilliant, intelligent, cutting - socks you between the eyes. Rob Lowe is terrific in an evening of sizzling performances. David Esbornson directs the play magnificently" The Independent

This West End Premiere Production of Aaron Sorkin's contemporary American classic play A Few Good Men is directed by David Esbjornson and stars Rob Lowe as the rookie lawyer 'Daniel Kaffee' along with Suranne Jones and Jack Ellis.

Rob Lowe is perhaps best known nowadays for his role in the popular television drama series The West Wing. Rob Lowe first came to prominence in the 1980's as part of the 'Brat Pack' when he starred in films such as The Outsiders, About Last Night, Youngblood, St. Elmo's Fire and Square Dance.

Aaron Sorkin made his Broadway debut with A Few Good Men aged 28. He also wrote the play's screenplay for the film which starred Tom Cruise, Demi Moore and Jack Nicholson. Aaron Sorkin's writing and producing credits include the television series' Sports Night and The West Wing which features Rob Lowe in the cast.

"Dramatic, witty, thought provoking... Popular entertainment at its best. Rob Lowe is excellent" The Daily Telegraph

"Anyone who watches The West Wing on television will know that Rob Lowe is extremely good in his slick, Brat Pack way at delivering Aaron Sorkin's quick-fire, funny-smart dialogue. So that's one good reason to go and see Sorkin's play A Few Good Men at the Theatre Royal, Haymarket. Lowe stars as Lieutenant Daniel Kaffee, a young (slightly too young for Lowe, who is 40) US Navy lawyer who has to defend two marines accused of murdering a sickly fellow marine at the Guantanamo Bay military base. It is a serious matter, more serious now that Guantanamo has become a military prison. But there is still room for jokes, some very funny and deft ones." The Sunday Telegraph

"A Few Good Men, by Aaron Sorkin, was a Broadway hit and a Hollywood movie, but it hasn't aged well. It now seems no more than a light, well-oiled entertainment, a dated courtroom drama... Rob Lowe plays Harvard attorney Daniel A Kaffee with sleek ease. Suranne Jones gutsily takes on one-dimensional Joanne Galloway, the truthful thorn in Kaffee's side... David Esbjornson's production is vigorous but no amount of high-calibre delivery can rescue a play past its shoot-by date." The Observer

"If you liked the The West Wing, you ought to love this. Firstly, A Few Good Men is written by the same guy, Aaron Sorkin... Secondly, having marked Sorkin's Broadway debut and been turned into a Tom Cruise movie, this court-marshal drama comes to the London stage starring the chiselled West Winger Rob Lowe... There are some gripping exchanges and amusing snipes, and David Esbjornson's production boasts several fine performances, including Suranne Jones and Dan Fredenburgh as Kaffe's stroppy support team. Lowe acquits himself admirably too but he looks curiously like a crusading ventriloquist's dummy with his square-jaw small-physique combo." The Independent on Sunday

"As fans of The West Wing will know, Aaron Sorkin doesn't do slow. The Emmy-winning writer creates dialogue that is meant to be spoken in a state of perpetual motion, speedily articulated by smart men and smarter women as they hurtle down corridors and crash through swing doors... Does David Esbjornson's production of A Few Good Men match this velocity? Thanks to Rob Lowe's starry presence, most of the time... Despite the ultra-topical setting, the playwright has cleverly resisted the temptation to update. There may be no specific references to Abu Ghraib or the current situation at 'Gitmo', but the subtext of responsibility, decency and honour shines through. It is not an antimilitary play, acknowledging that disapproval of the armed forces is a luxury fostered by those very bodies, yet it rejects cruelty, secrecy and the overweening God complex of the powerful man... Rob Lowe knows exactly what is expected, and... he has the charisma to carry it off. His comic timing is great." The Sunday Times

Author Aaron Sorkin on how he came to write A Few Good Men: "In 1903, US President Theodore Roosevelt made a lease agreement with Cuban President Estrada Palma. In exchange for an annual payment of $2000, the US Navy would be able to use a prime piece of land near Guantanamo Bay as a rest stop and refueling station for its ships in the area. Decades later, the land would be given to the US in perpetuity by Castro's predecessor, Baptista, but when Castro took over, he wanted - for fairly obvious reasons - the US Navy the hell out of his country and he told us to leave. We said no. He told us again, this time with soldiers pointing kalishnikovs at us. We built a wall around the base - the fenceline - and created an elite unit of marines to stand watch. Marine Rifle Security Company Windward has been guarding the fenceline 24 hours a day, seven days a week ever since. And that's where my sister comes in. My older sister, Deborah, had just graduated from Boston University Law School, and, eager to get trial experience right away, signed up for a three year stint with the Navy Judge Advocate General's Corps. It was a Sunday morning when my sister called me. Debbie:: 'You're never gonna believe where I'm going tomorrow'. Me: 'Where?' Debbie: Cuba. We keep a base in Guantanamo Bay. A bunch of marines down there hazed a guy in their squad and it went bad. Something went wrong and this kid almost died. The accused are saying they were ordered to do it by a superior. Something called a Code Red.' I wished her luck and headed over to the Palace Theatre (in New York) where I'd been bartending for the last few months at La Cage aux Folles. And it was sometime during the first act, somewhere between the walk-in and the intermission, that I grabbed a couple of cocktail napkins off the bar and began writing A Few Good Men. It opened at The Music Box Theatre on Broadway a year and a half later and ran for 497 performances."