Finished with Engines

Crackling machine-gun fire punctuates the tedium of life on board a US Navy observation platform. To relieve their endless boredom, its two inhabitants take turns to gleefully watch atrocities unfolding on a nearby island, and bond through the exchange of petty insults. Civil unrest in a foreign land has once again tempted America's army to stray beyond its shores, in this dark comedy that riffs on the futility of war.

Marooned for days on end with little but each other for amusement, war-hungry captain Megan and her reluctant officer, Hemingway, await a nuclear war. “We're due for kickoff any day soon,” she says with relish, almost licking her lips in anticipation. But this Beckettian drama leads one to suspect the violent climax will never come.

Written by Scottish playwright Alan McKendrick, who originally launched the play to popular acclaim at The Arches, Finished with Engines is a meditation on the ennui of military life, a critique of American imperialism, and a wry look at the threat of nuclear war, which hangs over the head of humankind like a heavy raincloud about to burst.

And while such a premise for a play has obvious comic potential, the drama's sloppy, uninspiring script largely prevents this from happening. In fact the only really amusing scene is almost entirely silent, and features Hemingway meticulously preparing a triple-decker sandwich.

Awkward performances from Stephanie Viola and Drew Friedman accentuate the faults in the script, and an hour in their company seems to last an eternity. Finished with Engines captures rather too successfully the numbing monotony of military life at sea.