Take Me Out
Although Richard Greenberg’s 2002 Tony-winning drama, "Take Me Out," profiles a year in the life of a championship baseball player and his team’s eventful season, it would be criminal to label it a baseball play. To call it a gay play, despite the fact that the star player publicly comes out of the closet and pivotal events transpire in a locker room where naked men are plentiful, would be equally unjust.
"Take Me Out," now at 2nd Story Theatre, isn’t so much a traditional story but rather a character study about friendship, loyalty, masculinity and self-realization. This potent production, directed with intensity and precision by Ed Shea and chock full of knock-out performances, presents baseball as a way of life, as opposed to just a sport or occupation, complete with triumphs, failures, tragedies, and above all, a work in progress rife with lessons to be learned.
Like most professional athletes, Darren Lemming (Ara Boghigian) is young, attractive, talented, wealthy, and full of himself. At the height of his career and celebrity status, Darren throws everyone for a loop when he outs himself during a routine press conference.
The variety of reactions, from his fans, the league and especially his teammates, becomes a veritable litmus test of strength and character for Darren, who had always thought of himself as invincible and immune to attack.
His announcement has a ripple effect on the team’s performance, and after an unfortunate losing streak, pitcher Shane Mungitt (Jeff Church) joins the Empires. Shane is everything Darren isn’t -- sheltered, unpolished, and anti-social -- but the boy sure can throw a ball. His new-kid-in-town status is short-lived, however, when he spouts the "n" word, the "f" word, and a series of other racial epithets during a post-game interview.
The team member seemingly most taken aback by these fueled incidents is Kippy Sunderstrom (Tim White), the show’s narrator, who somehow feels responsible for keeping the peace and ensuring everyone is treated fairly. Meanwhile, Darren’s newly anointed business manager, Mason (Kevin Broccoli), evolves from a timid outsider into his most ardent -- albeit unlikely -- fan and a quintessential baseball enthusiast, waxing poetic on the art and science of the sport.
While America’s favorite pastime is at the forefront of this work, the universal premise is applicable to the god-like status and attention bestowed upon figures in entertainment, technology, and politics, and Greenberg’s prose, whether lyrical or profane, is consistently engaging and impressive.
Boghigian deserves special recognition for his adept portrayal of Darren, a character not altogether likable at first, who slowly transforms into a vulnerable, recognizable individual, worthy of our attention.
Broccoli’s character, Mason, is fortunate enough to speak the most amusing, as well as the most profound statements in the play, and his superb performance is the perfect combination of frivolity and finesse.
Church is terrific as the politically incorrect Shane, whose bristling tirade near the end of Scene Three will likely be hailed as one of the most unforgettable moments at 2nd Story this season.
White is especially pleasant and painstakingly earnest as Kippy, the audience’s guide to arguably the most tumultuous season his (or any) baseball team has had to endure.
Actors in supporting roles who deserve mention are Kyle Blanchette, spot-on as the non-English speaking, Japanese player Kawabata, and Marlon Carey as Darren’s closest pal, Davey, a rival player incapable of seeing things differently. Also noteworthy is Trevor Elliott’s impressive stage set that purposefully and effectively doubles as a sports locker room.
Theatergoers need not be sports fans to appreciate 2nd Story Theatre’s affecting, courageous production of "Take Me Out."
"Take Me Out" continues through February 19 at 2nd Story Theatre, 28 Market Street, Warren, RI. For more information, visit 2nd Story Theatre’s website.
