Sequim High School presents M*A*S*H

Sequim Gazette staff

The 1950s brought bobby socks and poodle skirts, leather jackets and ponytails. Rock and roll was in its infancy. It was a time of peace and prosperity in the United States. But overseas a battle was raging in the little country of Korea. Brave men and women GIs served their country by going to this land far from their homes. Among the brave were doctors and nurses serving the wounded troops with their expertise in mobile medical units.

This story takes place at one of those field hospitals. Based on the long-standing television show by the same name, M*A*S*H shows the lighter side of war.

M*A*S*H stands for Mobile Army Surgical Hospital. Joining it are two unpredictable, unorthodox, undisciplined doctors, Hawkeye Pierce (played by James Willis) and Duke Forrest (played by Harrison Mitchell). They can’t be dealt with casually, however, because they are two of the best chest surgeons in South Korea.

They decide to wage a campaign to get someone they can’t stand, Frank Burns, a “by the book” doctor played by Alex Holloway, out of their way while also trying to get a young Korean to the United States and entered into medical school. Ho Jon, the Korean boy, is played by exchange student Natasha Matviychuk.

The thread of this effort helps tie together the pileup of comic adventures. There’s a jolly encounter with the baby-talking Bonwit sisters, the worst tap-dancing act the USO ever sent overseas. A sergeant is selling dumb GIs fishing rights in the Bay of Phum. Radar O’Reilly (Patrick McCready) a soldier with incredible hearing, anticipates things before they happen. Capt. Walt Waldowski, played by Tony Najera, is the proprietor of a painless dental clinic who is cured of dark moods by the recreation of an old monster movie and a monster.

All the television characters are represented including “Hot Lips” Houlihan (played by Emily Carel), Lt. Col. Henry Blake (played by Patrick Carpenter) and a bevy of nurses, doctors and enlisted men. There are even a few more “Koreans” thrown in the mix. It’s all here: a little romance, dramatic moments and a genuine love of life.

The zany madcap comedy opens at 7 p.m. Friday, Nov. 12, and plays again at 7 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 13, Friday-Saturday, Nov. 19-20, and a 4 p.m. matinee on Thursday, Nov. 18. Tickets are available at the door one hour before each show: $7 general admission, $5 for seniors, children and students with ASB cards.

For more information, call Christy Rutherford at 460-7517.