STAGE REVIEW : Not All That Glitters Is Gold in South Coast Repertory’s ‘Girls’

There is plenty of seduction in the idea of a play about Olympic runners--especially women: the dedication, deprivation, interference, will to win, excellence, pain, glamour, euphoria and hyper-reality.

British playwright Louise Page was going for the gold with “Golden Girls,” which opened Thursday at South Coast Repertory. But all that glitters it is not. Instead, it is a didactic piece about the commercial, career and personal pressures that afflict a distaff British Olympic track team--no matter how meticulous the production, gleaming the talent or serious the argument.

Too serious. Page’s play, not unlike the work of fellow Britishers and feminists Nell Dunn (“Steaming”) and early Caryl Churchill (“Vinegar Tom”) is a lot of fairly dry talk about a subject. Rather than a contest among living, breathing people, it’s a confrontation of ideas articulated by carefully selected mouthpieces--black and white. In every sense.

We have white runners and black, to keep a balance: Sue Kinder (Margaret Marx), a pliant and graceful gazelle who’s doing this at least in part to please her dad; Muriel Farr, a semi-reluctant contestant, more eager to nest than to best (Suzanne Stone); dazzling newcomer Janet Morris, a natural (Michele Lamar Richards); iron-willed winner Dorcas, hard as nails (Gail Grate); passive and less talented runner Pauline (Kerry Noonan), carried along by the understanding coach (John de Lancie) who has a thing for her.

On the periphery, exerting their own influences, are other stereotypes: Sue’s father, lovingly coaching his daughter because he can’t let go (John-David Keller); the wise/kind doctor who nurtures this whole brood (Barbara Tarbuck); Mike, male runner in decline, feeding his faltering ego at the winning women’s trough (Wortham Krimmer); Hilary Davenport, twittering corporate rep with only preening and profit on her mind (Judy Geeson); her glamour minion (Kristina Starman) and the villain/reporter who blows everything sky-high (Hal Landon Jr.).

Black and white. Good and bad. What minor plot-twist emerges in Act II is fairly stitled. If the premise remains intriguing, the characters rarely are. Director David Chambers keeps things sprinting along, but he can’t overcome the all-talk-and-no-development syndrome of the play.

As usual at this theater, production values are pure gold, from Susan Denison Geller’s Olympic chic to Ralph Funicello’s inspired variety of locales--track, gym, locker room, Heathrow Airport and even the breathtaking hills of Athens, lit by Peter Maradudin almost as splendidly as by a waning Mediterranean moon.

David Budries provides excellent sound design for the otherwise uncredited but rousing musical bridges (among the best things in this show). The accomplished actors are variously hamstrung by Page’s non-characters or able to overcome them. Geeson stands out, creating a memorably acid study of Davenport as a freakish metallic bimbo and oddly crumbling mechanized tool of Big Business.

All, however, are severely handicapped by the script. Page’s runners must deal with the pressure of competition while making a lot of emotional decisions about life goals, as well as suffering the crass intrusions of the celebrity-oriented commercial sponsor. How far are these women prepared to go for that gold? How far are the team doctor and coach prepared to push them? And how can it all end?

Not well. It is a “Golden” opportunity, polished to a high gloss, but ultimately fool’s gold. “Golden Girls” ends, in fact, where it might have been more interesting for it to begin: after the women have suffered a humiliating consequence of mismanaged pressure and must somehow start putting their lives together again. Now there might have been a real play.

Performances at 655 Town Center Drive in Costa Mesa run Tuesdays through Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays 7:30 p.m., with matinees Saturdays and Sundays at 2:30. Ends July 14. Tickets: $18-$25; (714) 957-4033.