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Story of bullied military-secrets leaker Manning is tedious

Inis Nua's production of The Radicalisation of Bradley Manning, is the American premiere of a play by Welsh writer Tim Rice. It takes up a fascinating subject: how and why a young soldier used his technological expertise to send hundreds of thousands of classified documents about military events in Iraq to WikiLeaks.

Inis Nua's production of The Radicalisation of Bradley Manning, is the American premiere of a play by Welsh writer Tim Rice. It takes up a fascinating subject: how and why a young soldier used his technological expertise to send hundreds of thousands of classified documents about military events in Iraq to WikiLeaks.

The play offers these binaries to ponder:

Hero or traitor? Manning was both nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize and sentenced to 35 years in a maximum-security prison.

Male or female? Bradley Manning became Chelsea Manning.

Under Tom Reing's bold direction, an ensemble of six young, highly accomplished actors take on many roles; most important, they all, male and female, portray Manning. They also portray Manning's teacher (a bully), fellow soldiers in basic training (bullies), father (bully), drill instructor (bully), lover (a betrayer), military psychiatrists (betrayers) and - well, you get the picture.

Thus, the play is more a psychological biography than a study in ethical and/or political radicalization. By making Manning's case history so blatantly that of a victim, and by making every actor onstage portray the soldier, the result is to diminish individuality and courage. It is disappointing that the script stops short of even mentioning any gender identity issue and frustrating that we never learn what the results were of the damning material having been made public.

And although the narrative's fractured chronology creates pointed comparisons by jumping around in time, the story might have been better served by a more straightforward narrative and a more realistic style.

And because The Radicalisation of Bradley Manning was written by a Welsh playwright, we get many scenes of the year Manning spent in high school in Wales, where the history lessons are about 19th-century Welsh rebels - names likely unknown to an American audience.

Rice's point is that "as a government you can't punish an idea, so you punish the man." Once we get that idea, there seems no need to provide so many lessons. Much in this overlong play depends on repetition for effect, although rather than making us feel the grinding tedium, it often becomes just tedious.

This is no fault of the actors, however, who turn in impressive performances: kudos to Trevor Fayle, David Glover, Campbell O'Hare, David Pica, Isa St. Clair and Johnny Smith.

At the Drake Theatre, 203 S. Hicks St., through May 15. Tickets: $25-35. Information: 215-454-9776 or inisnuatheatre.org.