Adapted from Herman Wouk’s sprawling Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, The Caine Mutiny, the shorter, leaner stage play with the longer name had its first run in 1953.

Conceived in two acts, essentially prosecution and defense, the removal of Philip Francis Queeg from command of the USS Caine during a typhoon is played out in the proceedings of a military court.

As Queeg is cross-examined by defense attorney Lt. Barney Greenwald, his personal quirks and character flaws present themselves to the audience and jurors as convincing reasons for his removal. But even the defense counsel can’t abide the disdain shown for the career military officer by those whose privileged lives have been protected and defended by men like Queeg.

NOTE: The play’s original run on Broadway in 1954 was directed by the legendary Charles Laughton and starred Henry Fonda as Barney Greenwald and Lloyd Nolan as Queeg.