The Rear Column

Through March 21, $22, Iron Age Theatre at Centre Theater, 208 DeKalb St., Norristown, 610-279-1013, ironagetheatre.org.

by Mark Cofta

theater

Iron Age Theatre co-directors Randall Wise and John Doyle seem to like a good history lesson: After last fall's spellbinding première of Chris Braak's mid-1800s-set John Henry, their production of Simon Gray's 1978 drama The Rear Column follows a Congo rescue mission launched by Henry Morton Stanley in 1887. The explorer left some Victorian gentlemen guarding supplies in the jungle with native porters, waiting interminably in hostile territory. Wise and Doyle see clear parallels to today's overseas American troops. As Doyle notes, "The play is clearly a reflection on Vietnam — Western powers hopelessly over their heads and without a clue in a third world jungle. It resonates with questions we raise today about torture, imprisonment of terrorists, cultural imperialism and civilian collateral damage."