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Clutch

Reviewed by Neal Weaver

SkyPilot Theatre Company at the Sportsmen’s Lodge

Through May 5

There have been a number of plays in which the action occurs at a funeral, but now, Liz Shannon Miller’s Clutch is being staged in a venue actually dedicated to funerals, weddings, and bar mitzvahs. We’re asked to believe, however self-consciously, that we’re at the real funeral of former football star and wide-receiver Gordon Beers, who has just died under questionable circumstances. Lest the event be overrun with football groupies, the family has ordered a private service, limited to family members.

Beers’s daughter Abby (Phoebe Kuhlman), his son Tom (Damien Landini), and their Aunt Deb (Ellen Rae Littman) have arrived to prepare for the service, but already there is dissension among them. Abby is arranging a rather tacky funeral wreath, Tom is cynical about the whole proceeding, and Aunt Deb has arrived with canapés and cupcakes to be served at the service, despite Abby’s fierce opposition. Abby is clearly nursing a serious grudge against her father because of his alcoholism, erratic and abusive behavior, and irresponsibility since he sustained the severe and debilitating injury that ended his football career. She blames him, and the game of football, for all their family woes.

When cousin Freddy (Henry Knots) arrives, he and Abby are soon at daggers drawn. He is a rabid sports fan, who hero-worships Gordon, and a fanatical player of fantasy football. Abby’s hatred of the sport, and Freddy’s love of it, lead to a shouting match between them which grows so loud that it must be quieted by Mr. Clark (Duane Taniguchi), who is scheduled to preside over the non-denominational service.

Then an imposing black woman appears on the scene: she is Dr. Carrie Moss (Dwana White), a scientist who specializes in the study of the brain, and she wishes to attend the service. Abby demands to know why she should be allowed in. And she explains that she knew and liked Gordon Beers, though only on the Internet, where he sought her out. She is intent on acquiring Gordon’s brain for research purposes in her study of brain-injured athletes. Abby is appalled. She initially refuses out of hand, but finally agrees to allow Moss to attend the service.

Then a second unexpected guest arrives to shift the focus once again. He is Howard (Bobby Neely), a retired pro football player, who heard about Gordon’s death, and drove 500 miles to pay his respects. When Abby challenges his motives, he explains, rather diffidently, that he was the man whose savage tackle ended Gordon’s football career.

Mr. Clark announces that there will be no sermon, and the guests are invited to speak about Gordon. Son Tom acknowledges that he knew his father so little that he had to Google him to get enough information to speak about him, but what he learned has made him reevaluate his father’s life. Dr. Moss presents her case: Gordon had heard about her research into sports related brain damage, and wanted his brain to be contributed to her investigations.  Howard delivers the only real eulogy: he did not know Gordon well off the field, but admired and respected him as a man and a player, who always came through in the clutches, strongly and decisively. And then Abby must make her decision regarding Gordon’s brain.

It’s a fascinating premise, despite a basic predictability and some credibility problems. It’s hard to believe that, if Gordon was that intent on giving his brain to science, he wouldn’t have created a legally binding document, or that as a responsible scientist, Dr. Moss would not have insisted on getting one — or that she would have enough tact not to arrive at his funeral demanding his brain. The decision to stage the piece in a real funeral chapel is a mixed blessing: while it gains in verisimilitude, it loses the brilliance and focus of stage lighting, and the impersonal blandness of the chapel is theatrically unexciting.

Director Kristina Lloyd has assembled a fine cast and deploys them expertly. Kuhlman engagingly strives to lend variety to a character who seems to be always objecting to anything and everything. Henry Knotts, as Freddy, plays his single-minded football enthusiasm for all the laughs it’s worth, and craftily steals a “selfie” with Howard. Landini’s Tom is clearly puzzled and moved by his father’s death, and tries to understand it.  White, as Dr. Moss, is all dignity and determination, and Neely’s Howard is both likable and believable. Taniguchi and Littman provide fine support.

SkyPilot Theatre Company at The Oak Room at the Sportsman’s Lodge Event Center, 12833 Ventura Boulevard, Studio City; Mon.-Tues., 8 p.m.; through May 5.  (800) 838-3006, www.SkyPilotTheatre.com