Deeds Not Words

Kenthedo Robinson’s Stirring The Buffalo Hero of World War I: The Wayne Miner Story returns to the ATA

The “Great” War is a story of heroes—some well-known, but many unsung.

The Buffalo Hero of World War I  is the true tale of one of the latter. Private Wayne Miner (played with power and dignity by Alton Ray) is a man dedicated to the cause that has stirred him to take arms with the Buffalo Soldier regiment when the U.S enters World War I in 1918. Except, as a person of color, he finds that in war (as in society), the road for him has deliberately been made much rockier.

Miner vows to defend democracy and be a hero to his wife and family despite the oppressive circumstances. “I’m not fighting for Lincoln,” he declares when it’s suggested his service is in return for his freedom. “I’m fighting for me, my family, and for the America that I want America to be.”

Miner finds comfort in the letters to his beloved Mamma Miner (Ms. D. in a moving performance). The men are also aided by Angelica (a warm and funny Monique Berkley), a Florence Nightingale figure who is not “officially” part of the Red Cross, but trying to help where she can.

Along with his bunkmates, Seymoure (Bilal Walker) and Rucker (Kevin Leonard), Miner finds that there is a battle to fight in the barracks that must be won before they ever see combat in France. The young men are denied the training, supplies, and guidance they need to survive and thrive, due to the blatant racism pervading the Armed Forces (and society as a whole). They don’t even get decent meals, heat, or proper boots. The head of the unit, Captain Quincy Blu (played with super-villain energy by Nicholas Dodge), is a loudmouthed racist—in both words and deeds—who has unveiled contempt for the men under him, and is only concerned with his own reputation and aspirations to glory. Their go-between is the tough but compassionate Lieutenant Clark (Rommell Sermons), who deals with the conundrum of trying to keep his men in line and boost their morale, while their spirits are being crushed by his own superior officer.

The anxious Rucker does what he’s told for the good of his beloved family; Seymoure rages against the situation and against “Blu” (as he refuses to refer to the officer by rank). The two men are harassed and humiliated by Blu in scenes depicted and described to brutal effect. Over the course of the play we truly get to know these people, which makes the denouement ever more poignant as we remember that these were lives that were really lived over 100 years ago.

When the men finally find themselves in France close to the combat, they are severely compromised by the lack of training that was deliberately denied them. Things come to a head between the group and Blu, in harrowing scenes of emotional and physical violence echoed and multiplied by the sound of artillery just outside the window.

The disparate personalities on display are brought to life vividly by the actors, who embody these historic figures with deftness and power. The two-tiered set is used cleverly, and coupled with excellent fight choreography, the music of the era and the disturbing sounds of war, the effect of being in a warzone in 1918 is palpable.

Wayne Miner was killed mere hours before the Armistice ending the war was put into effect, and may have been the very last to die for the Great War. He had volunteered to take artillery to the front when no one else would, knowing all too well what his chances of survival would be. He would often quote the Buffalo Soldier credo, “Deeds Not Words”, and his sacrifice shows he lived and died by this pledge.

The Buffalo Hero of World War 1: The Wayne Miner Story is written and directed by Kenthedo Robinson.