Emmy Award winner John Wesley Shipp will play Captain Queeg in Judson Theatre Company’s April production of Herman Wouk’s “The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial.” Opening night is Thursday, April 24, and performances of the classic military courtroom drama continue through Sunday, April 27 at BPAC’s Owens Auditorium in Pinehurst, NC.
Shipp is best-known for portraying the roles of Barry Allen on CBS’s 1990-91 television show “The Flash,” Mitch Leery (Dawson’s dad) on “Dawson’s Creek,” Kelly Nelson on “Guiding Light,” and Henry Allen in CW’s 2014-23 series “The Flash”. He received Daytime Emmy Awards for his work on “As the World Turns” and “Santa Barbara.” His theatrical work includes the Broadway productions of “Dancing at Lughnasa” and Harvey Fierstein’s “Safe Sex”, as well as numerous regional theatre credits.
When Lieutenant Stephen Maryk faces court-martial for unlawfully seizing control of the U.S.S. Caine from Captain Philip Queeg while the ship was in the midst of a harrowing typhoon, his defense hinges on one elusive question: Was Captain Queeg mentally fit to navigate the ship through the storm to safety? Or was Maryk’s decision to take the helm the only chance for the crew’s survival? “The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial” is a classic morality tale that explores the fine line between discipline and compulsion, fear and paranoia, valor and shame.
“The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial” is Herman Wouk’s adaptation of a portion of his Pulitzer Prize-winning bestseller “The Caine Mutiny.” Published in 1951, the novel was acclaimed as “the biggest bestseller since ‘Gone With the Wind’”, remaining on The New York Times Bestseller List for 122 weeks. Wouk’s stage adaptation premiered in California in October 1953 and toured extensively before opening on Broadway in January 1954. Directed by Charles Laughton and starring Henry Fonda, John Hodiak, and Lloyd Nolan, the original Broadway production ran for a year. Another national tour and worldwide productions followed, including Broadway revivals in 1983 (starring John Rubenstein and Michael Moriarty) and 2006 (starring David Schwimmer). In June 1954, Columbia Pictures released its film adaptation of the novel, starring Humphrey Bogart, Van Johnson, Jose Ferrer, and Fred MacMurray. The play has had three American television adaptations: in 1955 with members of the original Broadway cast; in a 1988 made-for-tv movie directed by Robert Altman; and in a 2023 television adaptation directed by William Friedkin and starring Kiefer Sutherland.
Herman Wouk (1915-2019) was the author of such classics as “Marjorie Morningstar” (1955), “Youngblood Hawke” (1961), “Don’t Stop the Carnival” (1965), “The Winds of War” (1971), and “War and Remembrance” (1978). Among Mr. Wouk’s laurels are the 1952 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for “The Caine Mutiny”; the cover of Time magazine for “Marjorie Morningstar,” the bestselling novel of that year; and the cultural phenomenon of “The Winds of War” and “War and Remembrance,” which became two of the most popular novels and TV miniseries events of the 1970s and 1980s. In 2008, Mr. Wouk was honored with the first Library of Congress Lifetime Achievement for the Writing of Fiction. He died in 2019 at the age of 103.
Co-founded in 2012 by Artistic Director Daniel Haley and Executive Producer Morgan Sills, Judson Theatre Company is a 501(c)(3) non-profit professional theatre company dedicated to providing high-quality, engaging productions of classic and contemporary plays and musicals for the Sandhills area of North Carolina and beyond. Now in its twelfth season, Judson Theatre has brought world-class professional talent to the Sandhills, including Tony, Golden Globe, and Emmy Award winners and nominees, including Morgan Fairchild in “Butterflies are Free” (2024), Maxwell Caulfield in “Gaslight” (2023), and Linda Purl in “The Year of Magical Thinking” (2023),
Haley states, “’The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial’ is our first production of a military play, and we’re especially thrilled to welcome John Wesley Shipp back to our stage after his wonderful performance in our 2016 production of ‘Twelve Angry Men.’”
Also starring in “The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial” is David A. Gregory (over 250 episodes as Robert Ford on ABC’s “One Life to Live”, recurring roles on “The Good Fight” and “Deception”) in his Judson Theatre Company debut as Lt. Barney Greenwald. Returning to Judson Theatre Company are Rick McDermott (as Captain Blakely), Jacob Pressley (as Lieutenant Stephen Maryk) and Matthew Tyler (as Lieutenant Commander John Challee). Collin Conway (as Dr. Bird), Colton Liberatore (as Lieutenant Junior Grade Willis Seward Keith), and Thomas Nash Tetterton (as Captain Randolph Southard) also make their Judson Theatre Company debuts. Additional casting to be announced.
Produced by arrangement with Concord Theatricals on behalf of Samuel French, Inc., “The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial” will be performed at Owens Auditorium at BPAC (3395 Airport Rd., Pinehurst, NC) Thursday, April 24 – Sunday, April 27. A talkback with the cast and creative team follows the Saturday matinee. Tickets can be purchased online at TicketMeSandhills.com or JudsonTheatre.com. Group discounts automatically apply with the purchase of ten or more tickets.
Performance schedule:
Thursday, April 24 at 7:00 pm
Friday, April 25 at 7:00 pm
Saturday matinee, April 26 at 2:00 pm
Saturday evening, April 26 at 7:00 pm
Sunday matinee, April 27 at 3:00 pm
