Playwright: Todd Frugia
At: Rooms Productions at the Apollo Theater Studio, 2540 N. Lincoln
Phone: 773-935-6100; $15
Runs through: July 29
BY MARY SHEN BARNIDGE
The evening's premise is immediately recognizable to veterans of interactive comedies like Late Nite Catechism and Flanagan's Wake: we are the East Chambers High School Buccaneers of Winnie, Texas, reporting for football practice in preparation for the upcoming game against the Anahuac Panthers. We will receive our training from coaches Peterson, Gustafson, Evanson and Henderson—all would-be starmakers whose methods of leadership are as widely diverse as their personal presentations. Evanson serenely claims Jesus as one of the team sponsors, imparting His strategy in parable-like homilies dubbed 'playables.' Peterson's Marine-sergeant pose is seriously undermined by his heavy lisp. Henderson is excitable and twitchy, while Gustafson is resolutely laid-back.
Author Todd Frugia portrays all four coaches, his delineation of their disparate personalities always keen and instantly distinguishable, even during the swift changes from one to the other. ( Especially funny are the scenes depicting the testosterone-riddled teachers attempting to carry out their classroom duties. ) Mary Glasspool, rigged out to androgynous proportions in full field gear, displays equal agility as the Everyman player who is the brunt of the instructors' ambitions. And the quasi-martial songs that bridge the individual episodes are no sillier than those usually encountered in this genre.
Football still being a male-dominated sport, however, many women may lack the expertise necessary to appreciate the finer points of Frugia's satire. And major problems arise when audience members are pulled onstage to participate in the exercises. While the activities do not require any extensive level of physical prowess, some of the spectators on opening night were ill-equipped for the occasion. ( YOU try to assume starting position wearing high-heeled sandals. )
There's no arguing that Frugia has created a clever ( and astonishingly reflective of its region, where athletics and the values thereof are the ethos uniting whole communities ) little show. But whether this pocket-sized entertainment with the awkward title has the stuff to be the BIG show it aspires to be will depend on how soon its target supporters discover it. Once these teammates find each other, victory and success should grant Coachology a winning run. Go, team, go!