Readers of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch know Benjamin Hochman as a sports columnist, and he’s also the author of four non-fiction books about sports. But this week, he adds a new line to his resume: playwright. Shakespeare in the Streets will present Hochman’s soccer-themed play, The Game’s Afoot, September 14 to 16 in downtown St. Louis. (See stlshakes.org/production/soccer for more information.) He recently explained how St. Louis’ infamous high school connections led to this collaboration — and why this play is for soccer lovers, not just theater fans.
This interview has been edited for clarity and length.
Have you ever written a play before this?
One. In 1998 at Clayton High School, I wrote the student-run musical about baseball, called The Franchise. One of the thespians at Clayton High was Ellie Schwetye [now co-founder of SATE and a performer and director in St. Louis’ local scene]. She was at a party with Adam Flores, who is the director of Shakespeare in the Streets. And he was like, “Man, this year we want to do a sports-themed soccer play. I don't know anybody in the sports community, though. She's like, “I got a guy.” So I joke that every quarter-century I write a play about sports.
So this all goes back to high school. That’s so St. Louis! Was The Franchise any good?
It was pretty memorable. It was basically like Hamiltonbefore Hamilton.
Really?
No! That was said sarcastically.
But Ellie must have seen something in your early work.
You know, for my living I write, in the public eye and often. So she was confident in my abilities, I suppose.
So, now you’ve written a play inspired by Shakespeare.
It's been a tough journey since personally, I'm more of a Christopher Marlowe guy.
So the Henriad is just a fancy way of saying Henry IV and Henry V. Adam Flores has been my co-pilot in this, and he suggested we do those plays as our inspiration, because notably, in the climactic scene in Henry V, it features the famous St. Crispin's Day speech (“we few, we happy few, we band of brothers”). Adam calls it the first-ever locker room speech. So of course, our cast does that speech before the big game.
Henry IV introduced the world to Falstaff. Do you have Falstaff in your play?
There is a performer, Keating, who has done a lot of productions in St. Louis over the years. Keating is amazing as Falstaff and just nails the comedy and is such a larger-than-life stage presence. Keating is a star and alone worth — I guess the show’s free, but I was gonna say, alone worth the price of admission.
Sounds like it’s going to be awesome for Shakespeare lovers. What about people who are into soccer? Will it be fun for them even if they're not theater people?
That's the whole point. I mean, admittedly, I wasn't much of a Shakespeare guy before this. So yes, this is a play for St. Louis first and foremost. And to the soccer community: I wrote it to pay homage to you. The play teaches the history of St. Louis soccer. It captures the culture of St. Louis soccer. It puts it in a way that we can all relate to. There's so many name drops and cameos along the way. Lori Chalupny Lawson, the famous soccer player from here, she'll be on stage for one of the nights. It’s just an homage to who we are as a soccer community.
So what would be your advice to someone who’s always wanted to write a play, but hasn’t done so?
I use this metaphor in a lot of things in life, but it's as simple as if it's a mountain to climb. You’ve got to first get on the mountain. And how many of us, whether it's going to the gym or writing a novel or whatever, we stare at the mountain, and we're like, ‘That is too high,’ or ‘Maybe I'll start climbing tomorrow.’ The idea of course is to just get on the mountain.
Start writing, get something on your screen, get something on your notepad. Once you do that, then you will begin the mountain climb and it's going to be a long climb and an arduous climb and a challenging climb. And sometimes we'll be like, is it worth it? It is. Nourish yourself with reading plays, and educate yourself by reading about the structure of plays, but don't don't hesitate to get on the mountain.
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