Brisbane review - A Few Good Men: returns triumphantly to the stage

By    David Wilson

A few good men

Written by Aaron Sorkin

Directed by Daniel Evans

Set & Costume Designer: Simone Romaniuk

Lighting Designer: Ben Hughes

Sound & Composition: Mike Willmett

Assistant Director: Christen O’Leary

Fight / Choreography & Intimacy Director: Nigel Poulton

Voice & Dialect Coach: Gabrielle Rogers

Military Consultant: James Francis

Presented by Queensland Theatre in association with QPAC

Production Season: 22 Nov – 7 Dec 2025, Playhouse QPAC, South Brisbane

https://queenslandtheatre.com.au/plays/a-few-good-men?

Ticket prices start from A$90

Chris Alosio, Hayden Spencer and Jimi Bani

Image by Stephen Henry

Aaron Sorkin’s A Few Good Men — the play that rocked Broadway in 1989 before its 1992 film adaptation sealed its place in popular culture — returns triumphantly to the stage thanks to Queensland Theatre Company, under the wonderful direction of Daniel Evans. Known for his razor-sharp dialogue and moral intensity, Sorkin crafted a courtroom drama that examines loyalty, authority and the corrosive force of institutional obedience. The 1992 film starring Tom Cruise and Jack Nicholson may have made the story iconic — but on stage, in the Playhouse’s intimate setting, the tension, the stakes and the human cost feel newly urgent, and totally relevant in today’s world.

Evans brings to Brisbane a production that pulses with the trademark Sorkin “rat-a-tat” energy: fast, precise, unrelenting. The set and costume design by Simone Romaniuk is lean and functional — uniforms, hard edges and muted tones that breathe a military world — while lighting by Ben Hughes and sound design by Mike Willmett interplay brilliantly. Sounds, silence, and darkness become as vital as the dialogue — the staging, costuming, lighting and the amazing soundscape made the entire performance an assault on the senses in the best possible way, to the point where it is not seen and heard, but felt. And the staging of the courtroom, with the audience positioned inside the courtroom, was genius! We were spectators who couldn’t look away, and also members of the jury - incredible stuff.

Special mention also to Military Consultant James Francis, who no doubt did a lot of heavy lifting in ensuring the success of this incredible production. Each uniform, each gesture, each moment of silence added to the amazing ritual of duty on show.

The entire cast was amazing. George Pullar as Lt. j.g. Daniel A. Kaffee was absolutely electrifying. He wonderfully portrayed the easy-going, superficial, self-centred, quick witted young Harvard graduate stereotype, while expertly revealing the character’s conscience and growing moral urgency. Meanwhile Hayden Spencer was simply brilliant as Lt. Col. Nathan Jessep, the bold, intelligent, self-confident-to-a-fault, inherently threatening ultra-military tyrant. The iconic, much anticipated, courtroom confrontation between the two landed with breathtaking force. In the flesh, that chilling, powder-keg exchange felt raw and necessary - the audience responding with literal cheers! Pullar and Spencer lost nothing against Cruise and Nicholson - if anything, the outcome felt heavier, sharper and somehow more personal. Amazing theatre.

Supporting performances were all incredibly powerful. The entire cast contributed to a company that felt tight, battle-ready and utterly credible. Special mention to Courtney Cavallaro, Jack Bannister, Jeremiah Wray, Doron Chester, Donne Ngabo and Reagan Mannix.

It is particularly timely that Queensland Theatre have brought A Few Good Men to the Brisbane stage in 2025 — at a time when issues of power, duty and institutional accountability resonate globally. The play may have originated in 1989, but the questions it asks feel painfully present. The combination of Sorkin’s unflinching script, Evans’ craft, and a cast and creative team committed to truth-telling make this production feel not just relevant, but vital.

This revival honours theatre’s ability to challenge, provoke and confront — to turn a house of entertainment into a room of reckoning. It offers not only the thrills of courtroom theatre, but the weight of conscience. If you go, and I hope you do, be ready to question what you believe, what you trust, and whether “loyalty” is a virtue or a weapon.

A Few Good Men by Queensland Theatre Company is theatre at its sharpest, its loudest — and its most necessary.