The Good Fight

The Good FightSongs fall like punches in The Good Fight, the well-intentioned but heavy-handed musical that premiered at the New Musical Theatre Festival. The play tells the story of Les Darcy, a heavyweight champion who gains world notoriety with his fighting skills, and it is paralleled with the story of World War I.With themes and morals abounding throughout the story, The Good Fight could have been an extremely successful show. However, this production attempts to fuse too many themes and parallels into one performance: the dilemmas faced by war, the worth of fame and fortune, and most heavily, the battle of the sexes. Instead of a successful fusion of these elements, however, this show has the subtlety of one of the punches that Darcy throws – deliberate and heavy.Darcy is the sweet-tempered boy living in Australia whose talent for fighting is discovered when he defends a child being approached by a bully. He is promptly taught how to box, to the delight of his father and the dread of his mother, who wants her son to defend himself, nothing more. His talent is unrivaled and he quickly rises to fame and fortune. Darcy remains innocent and oblivious, saying that God gave him the gift of fighting only to help provide for his family, and he simply wants to work as a blacksmith when he ages.His story is paralleled with that of Charlie, his childhood friend. An ambitious journalist, Charlie encourages Darcy to pursue fame and fortune. The two plan on joining the army together, but Darcy is unable to when his mother refuses to sign the consent form required for underage soldiers. Charlie goes to battle alone, waiting for Darcy to join him.The war is fought on Australian soil as well, shown as the mothers of the soldiers compete with each other over whose sons have enlisted and been honored. This rivalry is presented in garden tableaus, where the women exchange snubs and barbs. Darcy's mother staunchly defends her decision to keep her son safe, while Charlie's mother taunts her.Darcy's story and the war are reflected in the general culture, when a nightclub singer performs songs about him and about joining the army. These scenes, which should be delightfully ironic, are instead merely entertaining and even depressing, when young men are encouraged to sign up for "fun and adventure" by the army recruiters.While the cast's talent is undeniable, and the intentions of the show are interesting, everything about the The Good Fight is too deliberate and heavy-handed, from the lyrics of the songs to their executions onstage. The central character of a two-hour musical should be complex and compelling, but instead is he simply flat. Darcy is a good person. He is naïve and he is taken advantage of. The audience understands that. But what else is happening?The one highlight of the cast of characters is Brad Carrol, who plays Charlie. Driven by ambition, and then wracked with confusion and tormented by war, he is the most flawed and human of the cast. I found myself wishing there was a show with him as the main character instead of the sidekick. His death truly is a tragedy, which is more than can be said about other men in this show.It is odd that a story that is supposed to be character driven is instead presented in large ensemble numbers, leaving little time for smaller numbers or conversation between the main characters. The most compelling aspects of the show – Charlie and Darcy's friendship, and Charlie's romance with a French girl he meets while overseas (played beautifully by Eliza Anderson) – lack development and are pushed aside for yet another rousing group number.Clocking in at two hours, The Good Fight is simply too long, a fact that seems to be realized when the story rushes to an anticlimactic conclusion - but not without one more group number.