Time taking its toll on dated 'Coupla White Chicks'
It's generally acknowledged that it's OK to switch your brain off when it comes to summer entertainment. This is the time for Hollywood to stuff cineplexes with bloated blockbusters, symphony orchestras to power down with "pops" concerts and for theater companies to raise the curtain on sunny comedies to match the weather.
Buffalo Theatre Ensemble (BTE) doesn't buck the trend for its July production of John Ford Noonan's 1980 off-Broadway comedy "A Coupla White Chicks Sitting Around Talking."
The name says it all: two white women, one kitchen set and plenty of secrets to be spilled over coffee. But note the deliberately misspelled "Coupla" in the title - it's a sign that the play itself doesn't aspire to too much grammatical or dramatically motivated correctness.
For "A Coupla White Chicks," Noonan throws together two stock characterizations of opposites in a wealthy New York suburban community in 1979.
There's Maude Mix, a no-nonsense and secretive Westchester County housewife who is constantly involved with civic organizations to blunt personal crises. Then there's Maude's new neighbor, Hannah Mae Bindler, a rootin', tootin' former cheerleader and Texas transplant who stereotypically slathers on Southern charm at every step.
At first Maude is antagonistic toward Hannah Mae's forcefully perky attempts to become best buddies. But as secrets get revealed about the women's lyin' and cheatin' husbands, the two develop a bond of both martyred and empowered sisterhood. Right on cue near the end, the two share a spasm of gasp-filled laughs over hugs, professed lifelong friendship promises and a cache of spilled department store shopping bags from a weekend spree in Manhattan.
Chalk "A Coupla White Chicks" up as proto-chick flick material (the play debuted just a few months before the seminal women-empowerment film comedy "9 to 5"). While Noonan's play does touch upon the constrained roles of wealthy housewives, his plotting and speeded-up emotions for the characters ultimately feel contrived and phony.
Plus, the years haven't been kind to "A Coupla White Chicks," which now comes off as a quaint late '70s period piece. The rotary-dial phones sans answering machines, the string of disco hits linking the scenes together and those not-always-flattering fashions of the era sometimes prompted whispered audience snickers of recognition (all that was missing was the fondue pot).
I suspect "A Coupla White Chicks" was chosen as a vehicle for BTE's artistic leadership to have some summer fun. BTE artistic director Connie Canaday Howard enjoys camping it up as the nosy and feisty Southerner Hannah Mae, while BTE associate artistic director Amelia Barrett does a respectable job as the tightly wound Maude.
Under director Loretta Hauser, the two actresses are clearly having a ball on stage. But the weak material they're playing ultimately undermines most of their work.
It's intriguing to note that the original New York production of "A Coupla White Chicks" starred the award-winning actresses Susan Sarandon (as Maude) and Eileen Brennan (as Hannah Mae). Back then, such a woman-centric comedy might have filled a much-neglected niche.
But in the ensuing years, Hollywood and other entertainment outlets have targeted women with a string of "chick flicks" and other programming. And many of those ("Boys on the Side," "Fried Green Tomatoes," etc.) have gone on to tackle far more genuine explorations of women's friendships and more compelling issues.
So if you want to meet up with "A Coupla White Chicks" at BTE this summer, do remember to check your brain at the door. Also set your clock back about 30 years as far as entertainment targeting women goes.
"A Coupla White Chicks Siting Around Talking"
Rating: 2 stars
Location: Buffalo Theatre Ensemble at College of DuPage's McAnich Arts Center, 425 Fawell Blvd., Glen Ellyn
Showtimes: 8 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays; 2 p.m. Sundays; through July 26
Running time: 80 minutes without intermission
Tickets: $25-$33
Parking: ample lots
Box office: (630) 942-4000 or cod.edu/ArtsCntr/bte.htm
Rating: Some talk of sex and a touch of profanity