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• Bringing bawdy back with "Couples Counseling Killed Katie"

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Address: 223 N. Broadway Ave. Urbana, IL 61801
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Communication, love and anal sex are topics broached in “Couples Counseling Killed Katie,” re-opening for a final run at the Station Theatre. “Man-nectar” aside, the therapeutic comedy tears through sacred cows like so many luxury automobiles through white lower-middle class Americans. The original two-week midsummer run sold out before it opened, and so it’s being brought back for the students who might have missed it the first time. “This play lets me let out the obnoxious eight-year-old girl in me, ‘Look at me! I can sing this song, I can do this accent,’” says Lindsey Markel, the many-faced female lead, “and the obnoxious eight-year-old girl in Mike.”

The Mike is question is Mike Trippiedi, a Station luminary since 1975. Salt and pepper hair neatly sets atop a perpetually smiling off-stage face, one he quickly changes to rubber for “Couples Counseling,” a face of complete concentration. Trappeidi’s better (theatrical) half is exuberant, coming to rehearsal in a Beauty Shop band tee, hair streaked blond and brown. Markel galvanizes the stage, whether she’s a grandma or biker chick full of rage. “It’s really a show that requires a lot of trust,” Trappedi says, “a two person show where we each play seven different characters, seven different couples.”

Writer and director Mark Roberts’ comedy is spartan in a way: one act, one black couch, two people and 14 different characters. This is theatre without a safety net; Trappeidi and Markel can’t rely on the larger cast to pick up for any weak spots, every blemish is born to the audience. “We’ve never had a point where we’ve completely lost it,” Markel says, “Yet.” Costume changes become muscle memory. Luckily, they handle the pressure with aplomb and a killer rapport. “This is one of the least stressful show’s I’ve been in,” Markel says. “And one of the most stressful for me,” Trappeidi counters.

The cast gives most of the credit to Roberts, the writer in residence at the Station Theatre. The TV writer – notches on his belt include ABC’s “Two and a Half Men” – comes home to Urbana in summer to hone his craft, with hilarious results. “Couples Counseling” is the result of taking a handful of Hollywood stereotypes and twisting them in surprising, self-referential ways. The three weeks the actors had with the director brought the play even further over the top, the actors agree. Humor arises from the characters and the script: “I have never tried to be funny in this play,” Trippiedi says. “And I think he’s succeeded at that,” Markel quickly quips.