Streamers (play)
| Streamers | |
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Broadway poster
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| Written by | David Rabe |
| Characters | Roger Richie Carlyle M.P. Martin Sgt. Rooney Clark, M.P. Hinson, M.P. Billy M.P. Officer Sgt. Cokes |
| Date premiered | April 21, 1976 |
| Place premiered |
Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater Off-Broadway |
| Original language | English |
| Genre | Drama |
| Setting | a Virginia army base |
Streamers is a play by David Rabe.
The last in his Vietnam War trilogy that began with The Basic Training of Pavlo Hummel and Sticks and Bones, it focuses on the interactions and personal conflicts of a group of soldiers preparing to ship out to fight in the Southeast Asian conflict in 1965. Among them are middle class African American Roger, upper class Manhattanite Richie, who is struggling with his sexual orientation, conservative Wisconsin country boy Billy, and fearful loose cannon Carlyle, a streetwise black. In charge of their barracks are abrasive alcoholic Sgt. Cokes, who already has served overseas, and aggressive Sgt. Rooney, who is anxious to get into combat.
The title is a reference to parachutes that fail to open.Streamers originally was a one-act play entitled Knives Rabe completed in the late 1960s prior to writing the first two-thirds of his trilogy. While working as a journalist in New Haven, Connecticut, he expanded it into a full-length play. Under the direction of Mike Nichols, it premiered at the Long Wharf Theatre on January 30, 1976. The cast included Herbert Jefferson, Jr. as Roger, Peter Evans as Richie, John Heard as Billy, Joe Fields as Carlyle, Dolph Sweet as Cokes, and Kenneth McMillan as Rooney.
Streamers premiered at the Long Wharf Theatre in New Haven, Connecticut in 1976. The play transferred to the Off-Broadway Lincoln Center Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater opening on April 21, 1976, and closing on June 5, 1977 after 478 performances. The cast included Terry Alexander as Roger, Paul Rudd as Billy and Dorian Harewood as Carlyle, with Evans, Sweet, and McMillian reprising their Long Wharf roles. Later in the run Mark Metcalf replaced Rudd as Billy.
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