A Crime to Miss

With the prominence politics plays in the everyday lives of most Americans, finding its way on our television screens, on our radios and in our newspapers, it makes sense that it would find its way onto our stages as well.

However, unlike the slanted views we receive and are forced to deal with from these mediums, making it nearly impossible to decipher through the hidden agendas and bias to find out what the truth may possibly be, director Sara Wolkowitz’s “War Crimes,” written by Sergei Burbank, tells us a story that in the end, paints an accurate and mind-blowing message about the state of the world.

What originally appears as somewhat heady [with a 17th century Danish business man, Pieter Schaghen, eventually played marvelously by Dave Nelson, introducing the setting and ideas of the production somewhat long-windedly] is made so relatable and true to life that you can’t help but take the message seriously.

Putting the characters in the piece and not the countries involved in the forefront, we see firsthand how terrorism and overt-nationalism affects every country and every person. What first feels like a uber liberal message is smoothed out over time, as every country, person and thing involved in the story finds a way to keep their selfish goals ahead of what is right. Even the one person who ends up going out of his way to pay for his crimes, American John Warder [played by the stage-savvy and endearing Timothy Roselle] pays the ultimate price for his honesty, proving that there are problems in the world that need fixing and soon.

Finding a way to put a face to every country in a drama spanning the globe with solid actors is no easy task, but Alexis MacDonald’s portrayal of French Liberal lawyer Pascal does this to perfection and sets the tone for the rest of the production. Feeling the need to do the right thing for the sake of the world, but lacking the fortitude, Pascal’s ultimate decision proves to be a shocking one. In spite of her lacking French accent, MacDonald’s emotions are clearly visible and proves herself to be one of the driving forces in the production. The same thing goes for Laura Piquado, who does an excellent job as the English Judge, Thomasina More. With excellent stage presence, More delivers her lines with command and vigor, yet with the quiet desperation of a woman who is witnessing her own, and the world’s fall from grace.

Add in a stellar performance from Hugh Sinclair as the arrogant and lost, but somewhat charming [there’s a little of his character in all of us] American President John Adamson and the adorably at-home and comfortable performance of Sarah Hartmann, as Warder’s conflicted wife and you have enough talent on the stage, that when combined with interesting production values (video scenes in between the actual performance), make for a one of a kind drama.

Understanding many of the elements of this performance could have been a nearly impossible task, as the language is often heavily weighed in political and legal jargon at times, but the characters, their motives and the consequences of their actions are not. Crystal clear, vivid and expansive, the ideas expressed in “War Crimes” are poignant, thought-provoking and equally as important.

Because of this and behind excellent writing and directing by Burbank and Wolkowitz and a cast loaded with depth, “War Crimes” is an independent theater production that deserves a much larger stage.

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About Patrick Hickey Jr. 13819 Articles
Patrick Hickey Jr. is a full-time Assistant Professor of Communication & Performing Arts and Director of the Journalism program at Kingsborough Community College and is the chairman of the City University of New York Journalism Council. He is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of ReviewFix.com. He's also a former News Editor at NBC Local Integrated Media and National Video Games Writer at Examiner.com where his work was mentioned in National Ad campaigns by Disney, Nintendo and EA Sports. Hickey was also the Editor-In-Chief of two College Newspapers before he received his BA in Journalism from Brooklyn College. Hickey's work has been published in The New York Daily News, The New York Times, Complex, The Hockey Writers, Yahoo!, Broadway World, Examiner, NYSportScene Magazine, ProHockeyNews.com, GothamBaseball.com, The Syracuse Post-Standard, Scout.com and the official sites of the Brooklyn Aces and New York Islanders. His first book, The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult And Classic Video Game Developers was released in April 2018 and is chock full of interviews with legendary developers. His second book in the series, The Minds Behind Adventures Games, was released in December 2019. His third book, The Minds Behind Sports Games, was released in September 2020. His fourth book, The Minds Behind Shooter Games, was released in March 2021. The Minds Behind Sega Genesis Games and The Minds Behind PlayStation Games were released in 2022 and The Minds Behind PlayStation 2 was published in January 2023. Hickey is also a contracted comic book writer, currently penning his original series, "Condrey," as well as "The Job," "Brooklyn Bleeds" "Dem Gulls" and "KROOM" for Legacy Comix, where he serves as founder, owner and Editor-in-Chief. Hickey Jr. is also a voice actor, having starred in the 2018 indie hit and 2019 Switch, PS4 and Xbox One release, The Padre (also serving as English language Story Editor), from Shotgun With Glitters. The sequel, The Padre: One Shell Straight to Hell was released in February 2021- Hickey also served as a Story Editor and Lead Voiceover performer. He has also done narration and trailers for several other titles including The Kaiju Offensive, Relentless Rex and Roniu’s Tale. Hickey is also the lead voiceover performer on Mega Cat Studios’ upcoming title WrestleQuest, responsible for nearly 90 characters in the game, as well as Skybound's Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood, where he voices both Dracula and Renfield, as well as several other characters. He also stars in Ziggurat Interactive’s World Championship Boxing Manager 2, where he performs the VO of nearly every male character in the game. He also worked on the Atari VCS’s BPM Boy.

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