Super Cooper by Robert A.
Eiland
#2006-0012
ISBN #1-933159-62-6
If you like this play, have you seen Eiland's Philosophical Differences?

Cast Requirements:
 | CAL "COOP" COOPER: About to turn 30; a
little schlumpy, paunchy, balding. Raised Jewish by his adoptive parents. Aspires to be
above average. He has grown up thinking he suffers from a rare disease for which he takes
weekly shots concocted by his Uncle Jack. Conflict-averse, likes to please others.
Starting to go through huge physical (i.e. hormonal) and emotional changes, and is freaked
out about them.
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 | LANA LINCOFF: 30ish; Cals childhood
sweetheart. Down-to-earth, warm, positive; a home body. Lost her parents and little sister
in a car accident. (Since Cal thinks he lost his birth parents in an accident too, this
has been a powerful bond between them.) She attends self-help support groups and
workshops, and is always up on the latest trend and the jargon.
|
 | LOIS LANAGAN: 30s; the only other survivor from
Cals real home. Cool, incredibly smart, overly confident, a little distant,
athletic, beautiful, full of British charm, sometimes awkwardly straightforward. Adopted
and home-schooled by a Russian astrophysicist, who moved to Great Britain so as not to
work on Russias nuclear arsenal.
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 | LEXIE LUTERMAN: Cals best friend since
elementary school. Still a big kid at heart and Sherwoods own Mr. Wiseguy. Always
coming up with harebrained schemes to make money; always has a wisecrack at a tense moment
- the perfect personality for his sales job at the steel mill. Give him an Iron City beer,
a hot dog, a hot date and a Pittsburgh Pirates game, and hes in heaven. Seems a
simple, heart-on-his-sleeve type, but harbors depths and deviousness.
|
 | MA COOPER: 60s. A conventional, working Jewish
woman who took on an extraordinary responsibility in her early 30s by adopting Cal.
Unwilling to accept her child could be a "freak," she prevailed upon her brother
Jack to develop a serum to suppress Cals special abilities. Has a rather
black-and-white set of standards. Domineering in a charming kind of way, expert in the art
of applying guilt to gain her ends. But her love, for all its burrs, is unrelenting in its
loyalty.
|
 | POP COOPER: 60s-70s. Kind-hearted, dedicated, a
stroke victim with a gentle wisdom and humor that belies his modesty and simple life.
Never quite been able to stand up to his wife, but always has loved and respected her
devotedly. Conveys nuances and depth with extremely limited vocabulary. Dignified, and a
little melancholy.
|
 | UNCLE JACK: 60s. Wild card, maverick, nomad,
hold-out quasi-hippie-scientist with offbeat humor and lifestyle. A lavish (incessant)
storyteller and generous soul with adventures in his past that only the worst Philistine
wouldnt find fascinating. Wears the "Uncle" tag proudly, and takes family
responsibilities seriously. His love for his sister is bordered by resentment.
|
 | SHANNON: Late teens-20s. Sweet, responsible,
sprightly and romantic; can wisecrack with the best of em, and take a stand when
pushed too far. A classic small-town girl, former cheerleader and prom queen. An oldest
child who would go to the ends of the earth for her friends. Has an unfortunate habit of
picking Mr. Wrong with almost every boyfriend.
|
 | MATSON: 30-50. A consummate actor and master of a
variety of accents and disguises, he plays his "roles" with relish, preparing
back-stories, gestures and wardrobes for each. Fearless, witty, dependable, committed to
his causes.
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Synopsis
He put the lump in schlump. Thats Cal Cooper, small
town man-boy always at the ready behind the counter of his dads butcher shop, a
place where most folks arent what they seem. Lately Coops been getting the
weirdest cravings: for toothpaste, cigarette butts, even ammonia! Not to mention for Lana,
his fiancée. It all seems to correspond with the recent shortage of the peculiar
green serum his adoptive parents have been giving him since he was a baby. And with the
entrée onto the scene of the very British, sexy but not very kosher Lois Lanagan. Soon
Coop, much to his wonderment and consternation, finds he is able to do things he could
never do before. Like sense what people are thinking, hypnotize virtually anyone at will,
perform inhuman feats of strength
Cals best friend Lexie loves watching him
tear phone books in half. If only Cal could fly! Oh well. So what has he become? Not a
bird. Not a plane. Its Super Cooper. A warm comedy about family and social
consciousness. For the hero inside of us all.
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Author Biography
Philosophical Differences was
Bobs second Honorable Mention for a script in the Writers Digest competition, along
with Enemy Within. It was also selected as part of Stageloft Repertory Theaters New
Plays Festival and produced there in 1997. Other plays he has written include Super
Cooper; All For One; The Lunatic, The Lover and the Poet and a variety of one-acts. His
works in progress include Star Bright and Empty Sky. As a director, Bob has helmed The
Miracle Worker twice, at Arlington Friends of the Drama and at the theater group he
founded in Medfield, MA, The Gazebo Players. Other directorial efforts have included The
Night of the Iguana, Murder Has Been Arranged, The Cocktail Hour, The Most Dangerous Woman
(written by his late father Ted Eiland, published and produced Off-Broadway) and the
childrens version of Androcles and the Lion. As an actor in both repertory and
community theater, Bob has performed as Charly in Flowers For Algernon, John Proctor in
The Crucible, Ford in Shakespeares The Merry Wives of Windsor, Duke Orsino in
Twelfth Night, Biff in Death of a Salesman, Mortimer in Arsenic and Old Lace, Dogberry in
Much Ado About Nothing, Zach in A Chorus Line, Applegate the Devil in Damn Yankees, Jud in
Oklahoma, Bill Sikes in Oliver, and both Dick Christie and Bogart in different productions
of Play It Again Sam. He played John Hammond, P.I., based on Humphrey Bogarts Sam
Spade, in Big City Blues, a United Way film, and has acted in several independent films
produced and directed by Michael Legge. Bob lives with his wife Sharlotte,
daughter Thea and son Charlie in Harvard, and runs an executive search business focusing on high tech executives
and top software engineering talent. His business website is www.egselite.com, where there will soon be a link for
his playwriting and personal home page.
8/2/07:
JAC
Playwright Robert Eiland Featured in the Harvard Post |