HIS DARK LAND: A WWI TRAGEDY a Dramatic Reading by Stephen Lang and James Naughton

HIS DARK LAND: A WWI TRAGEDY is the final piece in Stephen Lang's brilliant, historic MEDAL of HONOR trilogy.  Lang is an acclaimed screen (Avatar) & Tony winning stage actor (A Few Good Men).  Lange should be lauded for his brilliant historic writing & creative enactment.   HIS DARK LAND is the final work of his Medal of Honor trilogy re-creating the human response to war.  Lange enacts historic recipients of the Medal of Honor from the Civil War , WWI, WWII, the Korean War & Vietnam War.  Lange personifies Col. Charles Whittlesey who led his men in the Meuse-Argonne Offense in the waning weeks of WWI commonly known as "Lost Battalion".  Lange speaks to the audience through a surmised interview with Damon Runyon (Tony winner James Naughton) a lead reporter of the epoch.  The minimal & effective staging places Whittlesey (a transformative Lang) behind a railing.  Runyon is seated off to the side.  The surreal & solicitous interview between Whittlesey & Runyon is poised on deck of an ocean liner the eve of Nov. 26, 1921, just prior to Whittlesey casting himself overboard.  Runyon beseeches Whittlesey to rectify the public's burgeoning questions. If not to enlighten the public perhaps to unburden the pains of war he carries.  Whittlesey tells Runyon he's a reticent man.  He didn't seek nor desired attention.  Yet, Runyon's gentle prodding stirs Whittlesey to loquacious outpourings to set the records straight.  Whittlesey pontificates with rancor as he expounds on the fighting under sieged by the Germans & cut off from allied support for 5 days.  The fatalities tolled 50% of his regiment.  He spurns the notion he yelled "Go to Hell" to the Germans upon receiving their letter asking for their surrender.  He speaks of his valiant & brave soldiers & with humility of himself.  His ire explodes at the appellation "Lost Battalion".  "We were never lost. We were where  ordered!"  Whittlesey disdains his Medal of Honor awarded for simply carrying out his orders.  History comes alive with a gripping & poignant portrayal that struck with force the turmoil evident under the civilized veneer of a someone suffering PTSD.  Whittlesey served as a pallbearer for the Casket of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington Cemetery just days before boarding the ship where he would take his own life.  Lange bequeathed the original letter from the German command asking for surrender to a friend. "The suffering of your wounded men can be heard over here in the German lines, and we are appealing to your humane sentiments to stop.  A white flag shown by one of your men will tell us that you agree with these conditions".   Lang began & ended with poetry by Siegfried Sassoon. "Look down, and swear by the slain of the war that you'll never forget." This was an indelible evening; a tribute to Col. Charles Whittlesey, the fallen soldiers of WWI and all who've fought in battle.   It's a potent testament to the tragedies of war and protest to all war.