by Macey Levin
Two lonely men, Chip and Gus, meet every third Tuesday of the month to play ping-pong in the back room of a bar in Schenectady, New York. Chip, a struggling professional musician and composer, teaches music at a university as an adjunct professor; Gus has a Ph.D and is the chairman of the philosophy department at the same college. He has written fourteen books and has delivered lectures all over the country. This odd couple are the only characters in the hysterical and touching play ChipandGus (that is how the title is written) by John Ahlin and Christopher Patrick Mullen at Bridge Street Theatre in Catskill, New York. Ahlin and Mullen are the cast.
As they play ping-pong, almost incessantly, they reminisce, argue, banter, and talk about life. The two men have played in various competitions through the years. Gus (John Ahlin) is overly proud of his victory in the Saugerties Table Tennis Tournament. Chip (Christopher Patrick Mullen) is in the midst of a divorce of which Gus is unaware. While playing, they learn that in addition to having participated in ping-pong matches their personal lives have crossed. As the games continue revelations abound.
The two men are distinctly different. Chip, being younger, is digitally driven. He wears jeans, drinks a couple bottles of beer and scotch while playing. As he is playing he is making plans to move out of his apartment from which he is being evicted. Gus, a middle-ager, doesn’t even own a cell phone. He plays the game in a dress shirt and tie, has never had two bottles of beer in the same evening, has never had scotch, and is obviously well off. Their dialogue is priceless filled with bon mots, terrible yet funny puns, intellectual humor, sarcasm and wisdom which flies faster than their volleys. Gus is a grammarian who is not beyond correcting Chip until he intentionally makes a faux pas. Chip, conversely, teases Gus for being a stuffed shirt. As the evening goes on what has started as simply a game night sees a richer affinity evolve between them.
The play runs for ninety minutes; for seventy or more of those minutes they continuously volley making unbelievable shots time after time. Watching them is an education unto itself. They start with a small number of balls but more and more and more come into play.
Ahlin and Mullen, who have written the show, have toured with it for several years; their work is still fresh and beautifully timed. Ahlin’s Gus is both pompous and diffident contrasted with Mullen’s Chip who is fragile with moments of strength. They play off each other nicely especially during the myriad volleys. There are exchanges when some of the dialogue feels improvised but maintains the tenor of the show.
ChipandGus was created for the Fat Knight Theatre, an off-off Broadway company in Manhattan. They specialize in fostering and producing new plays. The show has been touring the country for several years and has been filmed.
You can see a fabulous performance live at the Bridge Street Theatre, 44 West Bridge Street, Catskill, NY, October 3 – 6; 518-943-3818; contact@bridgestreet.org