Cowl Girl

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Pee-Wee Herman looms large in Cowl Girl, now playing through August 27 at the Steve & Marie Sgouros Theatre of The Players Theatre. The play, written by Anna Capunay, began its life back in 2013 and this Off Off Broadway production started around the time Paul Reubens passed away. How could the playwright or the producers (Unattended Baggage) have known that their show would have extra resonance for fans? In fact, anyone with a deep fandom for nerd culture in general will be able to relate to this play, and most will be envious of the incredible collection of memorabilia on display.

Set vaguely in the 2000’s (no one ever says specifically but there are references to Amazon being a new thing and the lead character rocks a Sidekick phone), Cowl Girl tells the story of the title character (who is never named beyond her alter ego), a fan-obsessed young woman who wears a Batman mask daily and hasn’t been outside for an unspecified amount of time.

Although press materials play up the comedy, the show is at its best when it gets serious, as when Cowl Girl (played with gusto by Yessenia Rivas) uses action figures to illustrate a sad memory. Ms. Capunay would do well to do more scenes like that and maybe pull back on some of the pop culture references, although they are fun. Those references are stunningly specific, including one about a piece of Clint Howard memorabilia (a veteran actor who made a memorable appearance on the original Star Trek, and is also Ron Howard’s brother).

The plot centers around an older fan (offstage) who is getting rid of his toy collection because he’s dying. His genderqueer nibling Alex (Azendé Kendale Johnson) is clueless about all things geek and needs Cowl Girl’s help. Of course, there’s an attraction, and Alex wants to see what’s behind the mask.

Cowl Girl’s teenage friend Tabby (lilith Ma) is none too pleased with the romance; Ma comes to life in the scene where Tabby shows her displeasure. Jason the doorman (played on August 10 by Roy Koshy subbing for Mike Pollock) is very invested in getting Cowl Girl to go outside, even going so far as to buy her tickets to the much lauded San Diego Comic Con. We didn’t need to see Jason clip his toenails and orgasmically clean out his ears though.

Like most geek fiction, there are tons of daddy issues, with Cowl Girl’s father having died and Alex’s father having left when they were young. This is all peppered with references to Thundercats, Star Trek and, of course, Pee-Wee Herman.

We are robbed of a potentially great moment – Cowl Girl finally goes outside but it happens offstage. This is frustrating because Ms. Rivas is a strong actor and it would have been nice to see how they handled the scene.

The lighting by Bruce A! Kraemer is solid, with fun audio flourishes (whoosh!) to highlight scene changes. (No sound designer is credited.) Director Sean Pollock keeps things moving; he also handles the appropriately retro set. Puppet designer Dan Jones did a nice job with the cat who makes one cute appearance.

At the end of the play there is a surprisingly sweet rendition of Prince’s Purple Rain. (Ma and Johnson both get to show off their voices.) “I never meant to cause you any sorrow / I never meant to cause you any pain / I only wanted one time to see you laughing” – this was also the credo of Paul Reubens, whose Pee-Wee Herman character had us laughing for many years. But Ms. Capunay’s strength as a writer is in what lies underneath the cowl. For her next piece, she should dig deeper and see what’s there.

Cowl Girl (through August 27, 2023)

Unattended Baggage

Steve & Marie Sgouros Theatre of The Players Theatre, 115 MacDougal Street, in Manhattan

For tickets, visit https://web.ovationtix.com/trs/cal/277/1690862400000

Running time: 95 minutes without an intermission

Pee-Wee Herman looms large in Cowl Girl, where fandom matters as much as relationships.