''The Basic Training of Pavlo Hummel'' is a play by

David Rabe David William Rabe (born March 10, 1940) is an American playwright and screenwriter. He won the Tony Award for Best Play in 1972 ('' Sticks and Bones'') and also received Tony award nominations for Best Play in 1974 ('' In the Boom Boom Room''), ...

. Rabe's first play in his

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vietnam a ...

trilogy A trilogy is a set of three works of art that are connected and can be seen either as a single work or as three individual works. They are commonly found in literature, film, and video games, and are less common in other art forms. Three-part wor ...

that continued with '' Sticks and Bones'' and '' Streamers'', its story is bracketed by scenes depicting the death of the everyman-like title character, who mindlessly grabs at a live hand grenade tossed into the Saigon brothel he is visiting. A born loser who is drafted into the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

, Hummel immediately encounters difficulties with both his sergeants and fellow recruits, none of whom trust him. As he stumbles through basic training and comes ever closer to the battlefield, he is guided by Ardell, a mysteriously ambiguous character who seemingly is an officer but serves as Hummel's conscience and a

Greek chorus A Greek chorus, or simply chorus ( grc-gre, χορός, chorós), in the context of ancient Greek tragedy, comedy, satyr plays, and modern works inspired by them, is a homogeneous, non-individualised group of performers, who comment with a collect ...

–like figure as well. Although injured repeatedly, Hummel is so determined to be a soldier he passes up a chance to go home, a decision that ultimately proves fatal.

Productions

Under the auspices of the

New York Shakespeare Festival Shakespeare in the Park (or Free Shakespeare in the Park) is a theatrical program that stages productions of Shakespearean plays at the Delacorte Theater, an open-air theater in New York City's Central Park. The theater and the productions ar ...

, the play premiered Off-Broadway at

The Public Theater The Public Theater is a New York City arts organization founded as the Shakespeare Workshop in 1954 by Joseph Papp, with the intention of showcasing the works of up-and-coming playwrights and performers.Epstein, Helen. ''Joe Papp: An American Li ...

on May 19, 1971. Directed by Jeff Bleckner, the cast included

William Atherton William Atherton Knight (born July 30, 1947) is an American actor, best known for portraying Richard Thornburg in '' Die Hard'' and its sequel and Walter Peck in ''Ghostbusters''. Early life Atherton was born in Orange, Connecticut, the son ...

as Hummel,

Albert Hall The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London. One of the UK's most treasured and distinctive buildings, it is held in trust for the nation and managed by a registered charity which receives no governm ...

as Ardell, and Joe Fields as Sgt. Tower The play opened on

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

at the

Longacre Theatre The Longacre Theatre is a Broadway theater at 220 West 48th Street in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States. Opened in 1913, it was designed by Henry B. Herts and was named for Longacre Square, now known a ...

on April 14, 1977 in previews, officially on April 24, 1977 and closed on September 3, 1977 after 117 performances. Directed by David Wheeler, the cast included Al Pacino as Hummel, Gustave Johnson as Ardell, and Joe Fields reprising his role as Sgt. Tower.''The Basic Training of Pavlo Hummel''
playbillvault.com, accessed May 15, 2015

Cast

Off Broadway production

Broadway production

Awards and nominations

Source: Playbill Vault ; Awards * 1971 Drama Desk Award for Most Promising Director – Jeff Bleckner * 1971 Drama Desk Award for Most Promising Playwright – David Rabe * 1971 Obie Award for Distinguished Direction – Jeff Bleckner * 1971 Theatre World Award – William Atherton * 1977 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actor in a Play – Al Pacino * 1977 Theatre World Award - Joe Fields * 1977 Tony Award for Best Actor in Play – Al Pacino ; Nominations * 1977 Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play – Joe Fields

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Basic Training of Pavlo Hummel, The 1971 plays Broadway plays Off-Broadway plays Plays by David Rabe Obie Award-winning plays Vietnam War fiction