Iron Horse to stage 'Coach and Mrs. Jagoff,' written by Pine man and inspired by true story

A play set in Western Pennsylvania will debut in August at Iron Horse Theatre Company in Ambridge.

The two-act play “Coach and Mrs. Jagoff” features main characters Jake Sebastian, a successful high school football coach and his wife, Lynn, who live in Fisk, a declining industrial town.

“(The Sebastians) employ humor and grit in an effort to save their marriage after (Jake) is arbitrarily fired and his long-standing drinking problem worsens,” playwright Bruce Zewe said. “The plot has an uplifting, human story arc, with both serious and light moments and regular characters that the audience can relate to.”

Zewe, 77, of Pine said his play is inspired by a true story.

“When Mike Zmijanac was unexpectedly fired as Aliquippa High School’s football coach in 2018, I started thinking about the dramatic possibilities of a play about a highly successful football coach who is terminated arbitrarily,” Zewe said.

When Zmijanac was fired, he was one of the highest paid staff members in the Aliquippa School District, Zewe said. The school board believed it could hire a younger, less expensive replacement.

“Since conflict is the essence of drama, I thought I could put an intriguing twist on this issue,” Zewe said.

Through research, Zewe found there were other high school football coaches in Western Pennsylvania who had similar stories.

“A number of highly successful, long-time high school football coaches in Western Pennsylvania had fallen out of favor with school boards and thus became vulnerable politically to losing their jobs,” Zewe said.

Zewe took up playwriting in retirement after working for an investment firm. He wrote a first draft of the play in four months and rewrote the entire play over another 18 months.

There have been two staged readings of the play, where actors read from a script onstage, at South Park Theatre in South Park Township.

“The staged readings, and the audience feedback at the staged readings, were especially helpful to me in refining the script,” Zewe said. “The audience filled out a survey after the staged readings, and 83% indicated that they would consider attending a full-scale production of the play.”

Zewe began marketing the play in 2024.

“In marketing the play, I found that there wasn’t exactly a sizable market for new works, whether based in Western Pennsylvania or elsewhere,” Zewe said. “Many theater companies want to produce plays that the audience is already familiar with.”

Zewe sent the script of the play to local theater companies, including the Iron Horse Theatre Company.

London Cain, founder and artistic director of the company, agreed to present the play.

“The play makes us think about why we judge others without really knowing them,” Cain said. “It also makes us think about why some people base their self-worth and even happiness on the success of their local sports teams.”

Cain, who lives in Pittsburgh’s Mexican War Streets neighborhood, founded the Iron Horse Theatre Company in January 2016. Though he has been the artistic director for all of the company’s shows since, he will be stepping down from his role at the end of this year.

Another board member, Catherine Hayahsi, will become the new artistic director.

The play is directed by Carnegie resident Danette Pemberton, who began acting at the age of 10.

Her journey as a director began a year ago, when she directed “Unexpected Baggage,” a comedy by Susan Cain McQuilkin of New Jersey, for Iron Horse’s submission in the 2024 Pittsburgh New Works Festival.

“My favorite part of directing ‘Coach and Mrs. Jagoff’ has been working with this cast,” Pemberton said. “My cast is not only talented, but they’re dedicated and enthusiastic, and each cast member has a truly collaborative spirit.”

Pemberton was responsible for casting the show.

“(The actors) have been an absolute dream to work with,” she said. “It’s an odd, yet fulfilling, feeling watching these people bond, knowing I’m responsible for that, for bringing them together.”

For the leads, Eric Vollmer of Cranberry will portray Jake Sebastian, and Amy Baschnagel of the North Hills will play his wife, Lynn.

Vollmer did some acting in musicals in high school and college, and spent a lot of time on stage as a vocalist. After college, he did not continue with acting other than some performances as a vocalist. He began acting again in 2023.

“I’ve been thrilled to be back on stage ever since,” Vollmer said. “I think my primary motivation to start acting was to help me become more of an extrovert, to break out of my shell. I’m still very much an introvert, but now it is far easier for me to get in front of a crowd to speak and perform than when I was younger.”

Baschnagel credits her first time onstage in a preschool Christmas pageant.

“Ever since, I knew the stage was it for me,” Baschnagel said. “I was in plays in middle and high school, studied at PMT, and I continued training as part of the BFA program at Clarion University.”

Supporting the two leads are seven cast members, all residents of the Pittsburgh area: Duncan Jameson, Ellen Kalik, Charissa McMahon, Adam Merulli, Lynne O’Meara, Matt Owens and Joan Schwartz.

“The Iron Horse prides itself on doing plays written by local playwrights,” Cain said. “We also look for plays that show the human spirit. That ability to keep fighting even when all seems lost. We hope everyone comes out to see this play because it has both of these important factors.”

There will be seven showings of the play over two weekends, including one matinee: 7:30 p.m. Friday, Aug. 8, 15 and 22; 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 9, 16 and 23; and 2 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 17.

Tickets are $20 for general admission and $18 for seniors. They can be purchased online at ironhorsetheatrecompany.com.

Noted Zewe: “This is a play of Western Pennsylvania people, by a Western Pennsylvania person and for Western Pennsylvania people.”