Saturday, April 2, 2011

That Championship Season

            I usually write very formal reviews of shows. This is not going to be one of those reviews. Let me start off by saying that in 1974 when That Championship Season was originally produced, it was probably very enjoyable. That is unfortunately no longer the case.

          Let's start with the play itself. It's about 5 men who meet every year to celebrate a high school basketball championship they won when they were in high school. They see each other all the time in their every day lives, but for one night a year they meet and relive the glory days. On this particular reunion drama along with a slight bit of comedy ensues.

          The play is about the demise of society. It's about the dissension of the country, of politics, of moral standards. These characters are offhandedly racist, anti Semitic, and homophobic. There's even a line about somebody being a communist, and how great Joe McCarthy was. The author, and the play, are not these things. It's mostly a big eff you to middle America. All of the references are dated, and I can't understand why anybody thought to revive this.

    As far as Performances go, they are mostly fine. Jason Patric (who is the authors son) starts off fine, but ends up sounding like William Shatner. Brian Cox over acts as the coach but is nonetheless mesmerizing. Chris Noth and Jim Gaffigan are fine. Keifer Sutherland is impeccable as James. He is understated in a way you don't expect.

        Over all it's fine. It's nothing special. There are some good moments in the script, but it's mostly a history lesson nobody needs to learn.

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