Interludes

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Summerworks continues with COACH COACH, Bailey Williams’ quirky investigation of female identity in a cut-throat society

• By drediman
• June 11, 2024
• No Comments

Down at The Wild Project in the East Village, Clubbed Thumb’s Summerworks series continues with the second of three offerings of its 2025 edition — Coach Coach by Bailey Williams (the final show of the series, Find Me Here by Crystal Finn, opens next week on June 19). In short, Williams’ quirky new play tells the story of a small group of female life coaches who themselves undergo coaching at a weekend retreat — namely, “Dr. Meredith Martin’s Action Coach Academy for Thinking Coaches” — to improve their effectiveness as counselors. Heading the sessions is the retreat’s namesake, whose wisdom and presentation skills are the envy of her students and the industry (or so it seems).

To be sure, Coach Coach continues in the vein of Summerworks’ signature compactness and theatrical aesthetic, which can be best described as the intersection of sketch comedy and absurdist theater. In a series of hilariously and keenly observed scenes, Williams incisively lays out the politics that govern these coaching sessions — particularly compelling are those that relate to Meredith’s preternaturally patient assistant Margo (no spoilers here!) — as the women vie for Meredith’s attention and approval. Although the play could be viewed as a mere parody, the playwright makes strides to move beyond surface-level amusement, particularly as it relates to the notion of female identity in an increasingly cut through society. As the women shed their inhibitions and more than hint at their vulnerabilities, the play’s menacing undertow makes itself increasingly apparent until, in the play’s unnerving and surreal final stretch, it lays bare Williams’ counterintuitive punchline — that a world that empowers is also a world that takes away.

Also as per usual for a Summerworks production, Coach Coach has been given an exceedingly polished mounting, especially impressive given its short run. In addition to being thoughtfully designed, the staging by Sarah Blush is, most importantly, carefully calibrated and fully attuned to Williams’ text and vision. Indeed, she and her superb ensemble cast work wonders with the play’s many layers of subtext. As an audience member, it’s quite the delight to see these wordless dynamics at play almost at every turn. It’s also a guilty pleasure seeing these accomplished actresses both create such fully-formed portrayals, as well as have a field day with the play’s various iterations of power play.

RECOMMENDED

COACH COACH
Off-Broadway, Play
Clubbed Thumb‘s Summerworks
1 hour, 15 minutes (without an intermission)
Through June 13