Philly Fringe 2018: Tribe of Fools presents Caitlin Corkery's 'Fly Eagles Fly'

Most surprising are the comedy’s rich, genuine characters and its believably horrible and hilarious depiction of corporate office life. Football, for the play’s five trapped desk jockeys, provides escape from drudgery, reasons to hope in a hopeless world. Fortunately for us, it’s a lot of fun.

The road to victory

Taiwo Sokan plays Gwen, the aggressively cheerful yet fragile and insecure human-resources coordinator who frets because her football-obsessed coworkers ignore and disrespect her. To win them over, she gives herself a crash course in all things Iggles as the team makes its championship run.

The characters are introduced by a sportscaster as if they were athletes: Nathan Alfort-Tate plays super-pumped fan Bruce; Kyle Yackoski is Copy Mike, the “IT professional” who fixes machines by turning them off and on. Janice Rowland plays Lara, who stands up to announce each thought and can recite all the rules, but can’t quite connect with humans. Jacinta Yelland is Intern Alex, whose groveling hides her evil plans to garner a full-time job.

Peter Smith’s scenic design expands across the studio space, with the audience on opposing sides. Furniture glides on wheels, walls are painted that peculiarly pukey institutional green, and flooring resembles tile but is padded for the energetic celebrations framing the play.

Those manic outpourings of pugnacious glee vividly express fans’ excitement the night their Iggles won it all. The cast dance and cheer but also tumble, leap, and stand on each other’s shoulders. Yes, that’s how it felt. They even pantomime the “Philly Special” play.

Hit ‘em low, hit ‘em high

Fly Eagles Fly contains some broad and weird humor, another Fools trademark, such as multiple appearances of Evil Tom Brady, a puppet version of the Patriots’ quarterback (actually several, of different sizes) who torments the office workers. Sneaky Intern Alex enters from funny hiding places. The bosses upstairs are represented by a second-floor window that the characters look to with subservience and fear.

Some comedy results from imaginative staging. For example, when Gwen ponders which person hated her meeting, the characters appear around her, restating their views as if speaking in Gwen’s memory.

More subtle, however, are the grimly funny details of corporate life: the meetings everyone hates, disappearance of food from the communal refrigerator, tedium and how they escape it, even the “Employee of the Month” mugshots on the wall. The mention of a local media giant’s name incites groans from characters and audience alike.

Good plays about sports concern people and relationships, not just games, and Fly Eagles Fly fits into that category. Football might seem superficial (that is, if you’re not a fan), but what it means to us and how it allows or hinders connections between us is deep, fascinating, and important.