Hartford's TheaterWorks Scores With "Take Me Out"
Rob Ruggiero has to be a helluva director. Most plays he touches work - as in the performances congeal. It's impossible for theatergoers to discern just how dictatorial is the facilitator of a production. Hence, it's tough to assign percentages -- to divy up accolades. As you watch the valuable "Take Me Out" at TheaterWorks (the run has just been extended until Dec. 10th), note the pacing as Ruggiero maximizes playwright Richard Greenberg's award winning script. The cast is, for the most part, splendid. Thematically, the subject matter is instantly compelling: What happens when a sterling baseball player, a five tool baseball player in the Major Leagues, admits he is gay?
Greenberg neither provides answers nor has he crafted the perfect script. That said, an already fine production gathers momentum as it reaches for a second act crescendo.
Darren Lemming (graceful, poised, handsome young actor Schuyler Yancey) makes it known that he is gay while doing a television interview. He misjudges impact. Lemming hasn't anticipated that scruffy, bigoted relief pitcher Shane Mungitt (Michael Balsley) might have issues......Veteran ballplayer Kippy Sunderstrom (Tim Altmeyer) narrates from time to time and attempts to defuse the situation. Kippy, a fence riding moderate/liberal, hopes that he will remain everyone's friend. He also serves as a translator for players who do not speak fluent English.
Actor Nat DeWolf plays Mason Marzac who, as fiscal advisor to Darren, speaks for a long, long time (too long) about playing baseball, democracy, and so on and so forth. Edit? Still, the character, something of a clown, is essential. DeWolf seems compelled to exaggerate with flamboyance. Marzac, the unathletic, philosophical geek is pivotal. Marzac tells us that someone must lose and that statement represents a great deal. I wonder whether the enthusiastic Marzac has fallen not only for baseball but for Lemming as well.
The shift from single to multi-dimension occurs as Greenberg's play unfolds. It touches upon bias, integrity, sexuality, sports.....and includes a scene as baseball players, fully nude next to one another, shower.
There's a most intense exchange between Lemming and his very good friend, Davey Battle (Shawn T. Andrew), who plays for another ballclub. It's head to head and heart to heart.
While I appreciate the incisive, engaging "Take Me Out," I felt out of place as (seemingly) one of two theatergoers who did not leap to his feet before all the actors took final bows. Give the actors a moment to catch collective breaths, please, before the requisite standing ovation. Greenberg has said, in interview, that he loves baseball. The actual baseball sequences in "Take Me Out" amplify and enrich the show. I would bid for just a little more baseball and less Marzac. Yes, he provides keys but he expounds and expounds. Too much, even if this is a relatively minor quibble.
Greenberg has noted that he was influenced when Billy Bean, a former big leaguer, came out six years ago and suggested that only a wonderfully talented player could admit his homosexuality and remain in the game. This play which is written by a man who has a gift for creating excellent dialogue.
www.theaterworkshartford.org; (860) 527-7838
Greenberg neither provides answers nor has he crafted the perfect script. That said, an already fine production gathers momentum as it reaches for a second act crescendo.
Darren Lemming (graceful, poised, handsome young actor Schuyler Yancey) makes it known that he is gay while doing a television interview. He misjudges impact. Lemming hasn't anticipated that scruffy, bigoted relief pitcher Shane Mungitt (Michael Balsley) might have issues......Veteran ballplayer Kippy Sunderstrom (Tim Altmeyer) narrates from time to time and attempts to defuse the situation. Kippy, a fence riding moderate/liberal, hopes that he will remain everyone's friend. He also serves as a translator for players who do not speak fluent English.
Actor Nat DeWolf plays Mason Marzac who, as fiscal advisor to Darren, speaks for a long, long time (too long) about playing baseball, democracy, and so on and so forth. Edit? Still, the character, something of a clown, is essential. DeWolf seems compelled to exaggerate with flamboyance. Marzac, the unathletic, philosophical geek is pivotal. Marzac tells us that someone must lose and that statement represents a great deal. I wonder whether the enthusiastic Marzac has fallen not only for baseball but for Lemming as well.
The shift from single to multi-dimension occurs as Greenberg's play unfolds. It touches upon bias, integrity, sexuality, sports.....and includes a scene as baseball players, fully nude next to one another, shower.
There's a most intense exchange between Lemming and his very good friend, Davey Battle (Shawn T. Andrew), who plays for another ballclub. It's head to head and heart to heart.
While I appreciate the incisive, engaging "Take Me Out," I felt out of place as (seemingly) one of two theatergoers who did not leap to his feet before all the actors took final bows. Give the actors a moment to catch collective breaths, please, before the requisite standing ovation. Greenberg has said, in interview, that he loves baseball. The actual baseball sequences in "Take Me Out" amplify and enrich the show. I would bid for just a little more baseball and less Marzac. Yes, he provides keys but he expounds and expounds. Too much, even if this is a relatively minor quibble.
Greenberg has noted that he was influenced when Billy Bean, a former big leaguer, came out six years ago and suggested that only a wonderfully talented player could admit his homosexuality and remain in the game. This play which is written by a man who has a gift for creating excellent dialogue.
www.theaterworkshartford.org; (860) 527-7838
posted by Fred Sokol at 12:12 PM
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