STAGE REVIEW : ‘Moonshadow’ a Provocative Look at Duty in Wartime

July 20, 1969. Neil Armstrong is about to land on the bright side of the moon. And Mark, bound for Vietnam, feels as if he is about to land on the dark side.

Which doesn’t particularly scare him--he’s excited about his adventure. But, on the eve of his departure, his parents urge him to flee to Canada.

It’s a development that elevates Richard Hellesen’s “Moonshadow,” at South Coast Repertory, above most son-going-off-to-war scenarios. And it seems an especially bold and pertinent twist right now, when many Americans are still basking in the aftermath of the Persian Gulf War.

What is a citizen’s duty? What is a parent’s? What justifies the killing and the dying that accompany war? Who decides? In the wake of the brief but increasingly complicated Gulf War, these age-old questions seem freshly minted.

“Moonshadow” is almost as much a debate as it is a play, but it’s a frighteningly urgent and angry debate, written with surpassing skill. Its structural simplicity, the sudden explosions of emotion from its normally taciturn Midwestern characters, and even its casting are somewhat reminiscent of “Holy Days,” last year’s award-winning production from the same director, Martin Benson, in the same theater, SCR’s remarkably intimate Second Stage.

Richard Doyle and John K. Linton are back from “Holy Days,” this time as father and son. Doyle walked away with the acting honors last year, and his performance here is as solid as ever. But this time it’s really Linton’s show.

His Mark is a big, cocky man-child who does not want to be “the last one to grow up.” Home for two weeks between boot camp and Vietnam, he claims that all he wants from his parents and his girlfriend Laurel are for them not to worry about him.

So when his parents tell him they have figured out how he could cross the border into Canada, he feels kicked in the stomach.

Aren’t these the people who taught him to obey? His mother (Robin Groves) helped him take the Cub Scout oath and later insisted that he register for the draft. His father fought in Korea, used the GI Bill to get a degree, and used a V.A. loan to buy a house. It’s not surprising that Mark sees military service as his ticket to manhood.

His girlfriend (Clare Carey) is no more supportive. She says he won’t be fighting for her sake. She even suggests that he’s less of a lover, now that he’s such a fighter.

Every character has his or her say--articulately, but without falling into speechifying. Hellesen’s dialogue is strong, vivid, natural.

The actresses, dressed and coiffed in perfect pitch with the era, are SCR newcomers, but they blend into Benson’s ensemble with ease. Groves’ face is a maze of long-repressed anxiety, and Carey hints that this young woman may already have been touched by the spirit of feminism.

The only member of the family who doesn’t stand in Mark’s way is his 13-year-old brother Jeff (Russell Keating and David Marsala alternate). Obsessed with watching the moon landing, Jeff concludes that a world that managed to put a man on the moon will not let his brother die. Marsala’s initial line readings were a bit stiff.

We hear a few excerpts of the TV moon coverage. And behind his starkly skeletal suburban home set, Cliff Faulkner has placed a giant image of the moon, which probably seemed more tangible to most Americans that day than did Vietnam. An apt choice, for a stirring and provocative play.

“Moonshadow,” South Coast Repertory, 655 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa, Tuesdays-Saturdays at 8:30 p.m., Sundays at 8 p.m., Saturdays-Sundays at 3 p.m. Ends June 2. $15-$29. (714) 957-4033. Running time: 1 hour, 55 minutes.