Theatre in Review: The Eyes of Babylon (59E59) Jeff Key has led such a dramatic life, I only wish some of it had made its way into The Eyes of Babylon. An Alabama native, a theatre professional, and a gay man, he made the counterintuitive decision to join the U.S. Marines. Interestingly, he seems to have enlisted even before the surge of patriotism, set off by 9/11, that caused people like the professional football star Pat Tillman to join up. Nevertheless, The Eyes of Babylon begins on that fateful day, with Key realizing that he will soon be in the Middle East. And, sure enough, soon he is in Kuwait, then Iraq, behind the wheel of a LAV, a cross between a Hummer and tank, with a tiny compartment for the driver that blocks out anything like peripheral vision. This fact is a kind of metaphor for The Eyes of Babylon, in which Key focuses on whatever detail is directly in front of him while frequently losing sight of the bigger picture. Luckily, Key never saw combat; military life included plenty of down time, much of which he used to keep the journal that provides the source material for The Eyes of Babylon. Much of the text consists of random observations, some of which are interesting - are those children rushing by part of a trap? - and some, not -for example, a detailed description of the graffiti in a portable toilet, and a vivid account of masturbation. Occasionally, his observations will catch one's attention, especially a lovely account of an encounter with an Iraqi gay man and their highly coded conversation. Others will freeze your blood, especially his account of soldiers who pass the time feeding anti-freeze to dogs and watching them die. But somehow the material doesn't accrue. As time goes by, it becomes clear that we're meant to be experiencing the story of Key's gradual disillusionment with his mission, but the text's anecdotes and set pieces don't build dramatically - they don't even really make a narrative - so it's hard to see how his change of heart happens. Oddly enough, the most gripping passages come at the end-and one of them is on video. It's a replay of Key's appearance on CNN, when, in an interview meant to point up the growing disillusionment of enlisted men, Key chooses to come out of the closet on national television. (Amusingly, a miffed Paula Zahn is having none of it, as she forcibly steers him back on topic.) This is followed by Key's resignation letter, a brief passage that nonetheless contains more passion than anything else in the previous 80 minutes. Surely, the experience of being a gay man in the Marines - the Marines! - during this most controversial war must have provoked more tension than is described here. The material is so rich, one wonders if Key might not go back and consider giving his script a more mordant rewrite. He may not have been well-served in this instance by Yuval Hadadi, his director. In any event, the audience at the performance I attended seemed mightily affected, even if denouncing (a) the war and (b) homophobia at 59E59 on Gay Pride Day surely counts as one of the most flagrant examples ever of preaching to the choir. In any event, the production's lighting, by Lee Terry; sound, by Chris Comfort; and projections (uncredited) are all totally up to snuff. I attended The Eyes of Babylon because I was intrigued by the subject matter; I left the theatre feeling almost like I knew less than I did going in. This can't be right.--David Barbour 
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