The Caine Mutiny: Court-Martial
By Herman Wouk
After Lt. Stephen Maryk of the USS Caine relieved his commander Queeg in an act of mutiny, we find him in his court martial proceedings. Him and his lawyer, Lt. Barney Greenwald, find themselves in the difficult battle to prove that Lt. Queeg was indeed mentally unstable, which would prove Maryk's innocence. As members of the Caine crew testify, we learn more and more about what happened that night on the Caine.
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Lt. Stephen Maryk (early 20s): Maryk is the center of this case. He is the lieutenant who took control of the Caine from Queeg. He is the only person who believes he was right to do so. He is very sure of his morals and, while it may have ended him up in a court-martial, he know his actions on the Caine saved lives, and he would do it again.
Lt. Barney Greenwald (early 20s): Greenwald is a lawyer, only because he couldn't pilot a plane. Greenwald was denied entry into the Navy because of his inability to fly a plane, and he is angry at the Navy because of it. He sees Maryk's case as an opportunity to stand up against the government for the little guy. He didn't take Maryk's case because he believes in it, but because he sees it as an opportunity to prove himself. While he may not believe Maryk is innocent, he will still do everything he can to win.
Lt. Com. John Challee (Mid 30s): Challee is prosecuting
Maryk. He has no doubt in is mind that Maryk is guilty, however he still wants to make sure that the trial is fair.
Blakely: The judge in our court case, Blakely cares most about finding the truth. He is upset by Greenwald's seemingly careless behavior in his defense of Maryk.
The Following Character Would Be Portrayed By The Same Actor.
Lt. Com. Phillip Francis Queeg (early 30s): Picture of a perfect naval officer on the outside, however much more complicated and distressed on the inside. He is described by Keith as "a strict disciplinarian," and I would say that he may be compensating for something.
Lt. Thomas Keefer: An author in pedestrian life, he is very self centered. Maryk expected that, as his friend, her would testify to his defense, however he ended up testifying against him.
Signalman Third Class Junius Urban: Very young and very confused, I imagine Urban as your quintessential "freshman." I have always imagined him wearing over-sized clothes.
Lt. (Jr. Grade) Willis Seward Keith: One of Maryk's most central supporters, although his support likely stems more from his dislike of Queeg than his belief in Maryk's innocence.
Capt. Randolph Southard: Southard is a ship expert, however he is much more book smart than street smart.
Dr. Forest Lundeen: Lundeen is a psychiatrist.
Dr. Bird: Another psychiatrist.
Proposed Set Design
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Rehearsal Schedule
Week One
During the first week of rehearsal, we would aim to block the entire show. As I would not anticipate Caine to have a lot of blocking (it will mostly be standing up and down for presenting arguments), this should go pretty quickly. I would expect to be able to finish blocking within a week, if not less. If we were to finish blocking early, I would spend rehearsal time working with major characters on character work. As I wouldn't want to waste the time of actor not doing anything, I would focus on one or two actors per day.
Week Two
In the second week I would continue with character work for about an hour of rehearsal and spend the rest of the time cleaning individual scenes. This show does not inherently lend itself to viewpoints, so, while I would still practice viewpoints, I wouldn't pend as much time on them. I would likely use more traditional character exercises such as hot seat. I would want my actors to be able to develop a backstory for their characters and really understand how they got into the situation they are in in the show.
Week Three
The third week would mostly be a continuation of exercises from week two. As I would expect actors to be off book by this point, we would be able to spend more time on cleaning in an effective manner.
Week Four: Tech Week
Tech week for Caine would certainly be focused on the crew's needs, but as there isn't very much tech for this show, I would expect to be able to focus on acting just as much.
3:15-3:30: Highs and Lows
As I have stated several times, theatre starts with trust. Everybody involved in the show (including the production staff, crew, adviser, and anybody else who might be in the room) sits in a circle and shares a good thing and a bad thing that happened to them that day. In my experience, one of the best ways to allow trust to form is through a daily check in like this.
3:30-4:30: Viewpoint/Character Building Exercises
I believe that daily character building exercises are essential to creating a good show. Actors having a space to check in with their characters on a regular basis and constantly learn more about them can add a substantial amount of honesty to an actor's performance. For this show in particular, I would spend a lot of time working with the actor portraying the witnesses so they could make distinguishable characters.
4:30-6:00: Focus of the Week
See above what we would focus on each week of the rehearsal process.