The Links of Love

Meet Chip, the professional golfer controlled by his parents, and T.J., the professional fatso controlled by her appetite.

They are not Romeo and Juliet. Not even Roseanne and Tom. But they do fall in love, stirring the plot for “How to Improve Your Golf Game,” which runs through Aug. 7 at the Actors Alley Repertory Theatre in North Hollywood.

Or, more accurately, improve your life. By falling for T.J., Chip discovers the exact partner his parents oppose. They wanted him to pick an attractive, well-groomed yuppie; he selected an obese, aspiring actress. Guess who’s coming to dinner, indeed. T.J., drowning her self-pity with food, finds a man to make her want to diet.

“Both solve their problems with each other,” said director Steve Barr. “They meet the right person to help them get on with their lives.”

Throughout the play, golf serves as a metaphor for life: Do you play it conservatively and maintain unhealthy routines? Or do you risk everything with unpopular choices and break conventional rules? Both Chip and T.J. choose the latter, and realize it was a stroke of great fortune.

The playwright is David Babcock, who sees golf as the quintessential hobby for the rich, and the sport that most depends on strict adherence to the rules.

“Flying in the face of the general consensus,” Babcock said, “is the only thing that is going to get a result that comes from your own soul. It defines you.”

Babcock wrote the play in 1985; its only public performances were staged at theaters in Minnesota. He’s had talks with Hollywood executives about adapting it into a screenplay. Babcock also wrote “Hippies From Hell,” a play about undercover police officers who masquerade as aging hippies.

Barr was attracted to “How to Improve Your Golf Game” by T.J.’s character, played by Kelly Warren. Barr calls her “Kathy Bates on amphetamines,” referring to the Academy-Award winning performance given by Bates as a homely, overweight psycho in “Misery.”

T.J. is an outspoken woman thrown into a genteel, upright environment. Strangely enough, though, because of her weight, she lands a national commercial and must choose whether to keep her beefy image or lose the pounds and possibly her niche in show business.

“It’s a different comedy,” Barr said, “because she’s not typically the right girl for him. I like that.”

As the play begins, Chip, played by Scott Wyler, is giving golf instructions to the audience. No longer on the professional golf tour, Chip is teaching the sport at a public park. In his journey to the past, he shows how he broke from his parents to establish his own identity.

“How to Improve Your Golf Game” plays at 8 p.m. Mondays through Wednesdays at the Actors Alley Repertory Theatre, 12135 Riverside Drive, North Hollywood. Shows continue through Aug. 7. Admission is free, but reservations are requested. Call (818) 508-4200.