Iron Age Theatre

Synopsis

At the beginning of the play, the owner of the Maroons, Doc Striegel recruits Tony Latone for his Pottsville franchise as the team makes the leap from the Anthracite League to the newly-established NFL. Next, we meet a number of the other players (Shenandoah councilman Barney Wentz, all-pro Duke Osborne, and Jack Ernst) as they are introduced to their new (and unorthodox) coach, Dick Rauch – even as the strike of 1925 begins with a walkout by miners across the coalfields. Despite the reservations of a young John O’Hara (and his ambivalent feelings toward his own hometown), the Maroons win their opening game and run roughshod over other competitors. Jack Ernst, the quarterback, suggests to Striegel that he look into acquiring a friend of Jack’s from Lafayette College, one Charlie Berry. Striegel sets up a game against the arch-rival Frankford Yellow Jackets, led by the crafty Shep Royle. As the first act ends, the Maroons suffer a devas- tating loss at the hands of Frankford, and the team itself hovers on the edge of bank- ruptcy as Berry arrives and is introduced to his new teammates.

As the second act begins, the Maroons defeat the Canton Bulldogs and buy themselves a second lease on life, while Duke renounces his role as team captain in deference to the gutsy play of the young Charlie Berry. While Duke and Tony contemplate retirement and the several traumas of their youths, Striegel lines up a rematch with the Yellow Jackets, luring Shep into the deal with the promise of a world championship game against the Notre Dame college all-stars at the end of the season. Perhaps, however, it is Shep who is luring Striegel into taking one step too far. The Maroons easily defeat Frankford in their rematch and go on to take the 1925 NFL title. Trailing at halftime in the game against Notre Dame, however, the players get word that the NFL has expelled the Maroons from the league and taken the 1925 title away from them for violating an obscure and unwrit-ten league rule. Shep seems to be behind this development. Nevertheless, the Maroons decide to take the field in the second half and – playing only for pride – they defeat the Irish and secure the un-ambivalent affection of John O’Hara, who wistfully lauds the players as the curtain falls.

Author's Statement

With this play I have sought to bring to light a dramatic tale that is largely forgotten outside of Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania, while celebrating the unique achievement of the Maroons themselves as well as the grit and pride, moral bravery and moxie, that characterized 1920s Pottsville specifically and the coal region more generally. For many, the “lost title” still rankles, and the play explores a possible scenario as to what might have jeopardized the Maroons’ status as 1925 NFL champions.

While working for my Ph.D. in drama at Tufts University, I became deeply interested in the deployment of theatre – at the intersection of historical research and sheer entertainment – as a way of allowing particular communities to encounter afresh and enjoy anew stories about themselves and their own patrimony. While creative license has been taken in the construction of the play (and in the characterizations of the various players involved, on the gridiron and off), I have engaged in careful research as well – seeking insofar as possible to bring the Maroons and several of the citizens of Pottsville to life in their own words, often gleaned from contemporaneous newspaper accounts and inter- views. I have thus visited Schuylkill County on various occasions and spent time at the Historical Society archives in order to get the little details “right”. I would hope that the play is capable not simply of providing an entertaining evening of theatre, but also of engendering in audiences a justifiable pride in our history as Pennsylvanians.

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