Streamers is a 1976 drama play by David Rabe.
It depicts two days of barracks life for a platoon of the US Army's 101st Airborne Division in 1965, as they await their seemingly inevitable deployment to the Vietnam War. In particular it focuses on two white soldiers: rural Wisconsin native Billy and intellectual New Yorker Richie, and two Black soldiers: outgoing, streetwise Roger, and hotheaded Carlyle. With the platoon overseen by two middle-aged drunkards, Sgts. Rooney and Cokes, there's a notable lack of discipline. Besides racial tensions, sexual orientation becomes an issue among the soldiers, with Richie widely regarded as gay (a charge he doesn't go out of his way to deny). A dramatic escalation leads to a tragic conclusion.
It had an acclaimed Broadway production, directed by Mike Nichols and running for more than a year. In 1983, Robert Altman directed a film adaptation, one of several minimalistic theatrical adaptations he did in that phase of his career; Matthew Modine played Billy, David Alan Grier (in his film debut) played Roger, and George Dzundza played Sgt. Cokes, alongside Mitchell Lichtensteinnote (Richie), Michael Wright (Carlyle), and Guy Boyd (Sgt. Rooney).
Tropes:
- The Alcoholic: Cokes and especially Rooney, who keeps beer bottles in his uniform pockets.
- As Long as It Sounds Foreign: The story closes with Cokes singing a mock-Korean version of the "Beautiful Streamer" song.
- Ax-Crazy: Carlyle is clearly unstable from the start, but once he gets hold of a knife, things escalate.
- Bury Your Gays: Maybe the case with Billy, depending on if you believe that he's closeted.
- Downer Ending: At the close Billy and Sgt. Rooney are dead, Carlyle has been arrested for killing them, and a deliriously drunk Sgt. Cokes doesn't know that Rooney is dead yet.
- Gayngst: Gay men trying to establish an identity in the deeply repressive setting of the Army in 1965 drives much of the drama, with Richie being relatively open about it, Carlyle struggling with it alongside the issues of being Black in the military, and Billy maybe being closeted.
- I Have This Friend: Billy talks about how he and his buddies would befriend gay men in order to get money from them, then spurn their advances, until one friend finally had sex with one of their targets. Richie suspects the "friend" was Billy himself.
- Mistaken Identity: Knowing that they're looking for a Black soldier, the MPs immediately try to apprehend Roger as soon as they show up to the barracks. Fortunately, other MPs quickly find Carlyle.
- Old Soldier: Rooney and Cokes count, but Rooney revels in portraying Cokes as one, building him up to near-
Memetic Badass status. - Screw the War, We're Partying: While not part of the war yet, Rooney and Cokes already have this attitude, drinking and pulling pranks.
- Shell-Shocked Veteran: As revealed in his final monologue, Sgt. Cokes has a bad case of this, recalling in harrowing detail having killed someone in The Korean War.
- Title Drop: From a Black Comedy parody of Stephen Foster's "Beautiful Dreamer", about parachutes not opening, that Rooney and Cokes sing.Beautiful streamer
Open for me
The sky is above me
But no canopy
Tropes specific to the 1983 film version:
- Bottle Episode: Except for a couple of short exterior scenes, the entire film takes place in the barracks.
- Footsie Under the Table: A close-up of Richie and Carlyle playing footsie in the bunk clues us in that they're attracted to each other.
- Shout-Out: Richie is shown reading Ariel and a book about Ingmar Bergman in his bunk.
- Suspiciously Apropos Music: "The Boy from New York City" by The Ad-Libs is heard on a radio during one scene focused on Richie, who's from New York.
