That Championship Season
There’s no denying the power of the award-winning play “That Championship Season”. The 1972 play is a raw and unflinching look at not only how those who peak early in life can become stuck in the past but also at how the competitive nature of the American perspective of what winning means can ultimately led to emptiness. These themes still resonate today, but the current production by Stanley B Theatre, although it contains many good moments, isn’t yet firing on all cylinders enough to do the material justice.
The story centers on the 20th reunion of the starters of a high school basketball team in a small Pennsylvania town, who gather with their former coach to celebrate their Cinderella-like winning of the state championship so long ago. The men have superficially achieved various levels of success, with Phil a successful businessman, now portly George the town mayor, and James a junior high principal supporting five children. But at the core of their lives is an emptiness that they never fulfilled on their promise to achieve anything as great as “that championship season”. James feels he wasted his talent on taking care of his dissolute father and former teammate and brother Tom, a broken-down drunk and unsuccessful writer. The coach was forced into retirement and recently had surgery for an ulcerated stomach, and George is viewed a bumbling idiot who’s own friends are plotting against him during election season. Even wealthy Phil is numb to his life, filling it with fast cars and affairs, even with George’s wife. Phil captures the mood of the group when he says, “Sometimes I think it’s the only thing I can still feel…that championship season.”
As the evening wears on and the copious amounts of alcohol take effect, the characters’ tempers fray and a few ugly truths are revealed, coinciding with accelerated performances from the cast. The plays starts out a bit weakly, with only the formidable Jeff Gill as the coach generating any real heat, despite the brisk pacing from director Jeannie-Marie Brown. It’s not until the second act that we’re treated to moments of real fire and pathos, especially from Gill and Gary Galonek as Phil. There are good moments from the rest of the cast, such as a building tension and outbreak of anger between Galonek and Jim Muzzi as James or a completely believable fight between brothers James and the character of Tom.
But aside from Gill and Galonek, the rest of the cast isn’t consistently strong enough to command their characters moments. Bruce-Robert Serafin has the right look for George but weaves between jovial and all-out anger with no build in between to generate tension. Maurno has the beautiful low speaking voice and Chris Cooper look that you’d want for the role of Tom, but he’s not a convincing drunk and never exudes the charisma to balance the stronger work by Gill and Galonek.
Galonek succeeds by subtly portraying the anesthetized Phil, while Gill’s furious conviction that his former team were glorious champions and can rise again is the real treat in this production. Gill hammers home playwright Jason Miller’s message that Gill’s (and America’s) notion of winning at all costs leads to empty victories. The coach still believes that, “You have to hate to win,” that you have to destroy your opponent in order to gain a victory. This lead to actions during the state championship that some of the players were not comfortable with, and, although beating the opponent is the only way to win in competitive sports, it’s a rough way to try to achieve success in life. Gill’s delivery of relentless locker room speeches while clutching at his ulcerated stomach as the perfect metaphor for the rotten core of the championship.
Director Miller keeps the pacing tight and the action interesting, making a lot of a very talky play. She’s aided by Jon Savage’s simple set that includes a larger than life photo of the team in their prime, allowing the men’s past to literally loom over them. If the rest of the cast can rise to the level of Galonek and particularly Gill’s performances, this production can be a worthwhile addition to the Boston summer theater scene.
Presented by Stanley B Theatre, at the Boston Center for the Arts through June 26, www.bostontheatrescene.com for tickets and information
