Baseball is more than a game in Richard Greenberg's "Take Me Out" at Fells Point Corner Theatre. This 2003 Broadway play tackles so many controversial social topics that theater-goers may feel the need to bring a scorecard.

Greenberg, who is swinging for the fences with this edgy play, manages to connect often enough to emerge with a pretty good batting average. Although he tends to be thematically obvious, it's just as obvious that he's found an intriguing setting for a play that takes on a host of nervous topics.

The bombshell announcement within the play is that Darren Lemming (Maboud Ebrahimzadeh), the biracial star player for the defending World Series champion New York Empires, has just told the press that he's gay. The team, whose name and fame obviously remind one of the New York Yankees, is such a high-profile operation that his personal announcement garners a lot of media attention.

Darren's team manager, Skipper (Chuck Delong), and the player who is Darren's best friend, Kippy Sunderstrom (Tony Viglione), are completely supportive, but the rest of the team represents a litmus test for how society at large responds.

Greenberg's demographically inclusive roster has white and black players, and even a Japanese player who doesn't speak English. If most of the players basically adopt a live-and-let-live attitude, there's a southern redneck player who's not shy about expressing his disapproval.

Making most of the characters uneasy is that these conversations take place in the team's locker room. One aspect of the play's realistic grounding is the nudity that definitely makes "Take Me Out" something for mature audiences.

The combative dialogue forces viewers to contemplate some basic social values, but Greenberg doesn't do himself any favors by constantly reiterating his thematic points. Fells Point Corner Theatre is doing an earlier three-act version of the play that drags in places; the two-act version of "Take Me Out" done on Broadway and more recently at Washington's Studio Theatre is more tightly written and forceful.

This production fortunately never grinds to a halt, because director Terry J. Long and a cohesive ensemble maintain enough tension. Long is best known for directing such campy shows as "Pageant," and so it comes as a relief that he's relatively restrained here and resists any impulse to have campy fun with the play's dramatic components.

Anchoring this production are Maboud Ebrahimzadeh's no-nonsense performance as Darren, who just wants to play the game and get on with his life; and Tony Viglione's engaging performance as Kippy, who also functions as an occasional narrator.

Nearly stealing the show is Edward Zarkowski as Darren's business manager, Mason Marzac. Although Mason appears to be capable when it comes to crunching the numbers, he's essentially a starstruck gay fan when he's around his hero. Their conversations are expertly scripted and they're also hilariously acted in this production. Zarkowski has fluttery gestures that get a laugh, but he's careful not to overdo them and so he does not slide into caricature.

Even when forced dialogue and thematic redundancy make the play seem like it's becoming static, there will be a plot twist (or in Mason's case a plot swish) to move the team further into the season.

Weary Baltimore baseball fans may be yawning about the perpetually losing Orioles, but theatergoers have reason to cheer a play that's about -- yikes! -- a New York team.

"Take Me Out" runs through Oct. 19 at Fells Point Corner Theatre, at 251 S. Ann St., in Fells Point. Performances are Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m., Sunday at 2 p.m. Tickets are $17, $15 for Sunday matinees. Call 410-276-7837 or go to www.fpct.org.

---

user comments (0)