"Take Me Out" by Richard Greenberg (born 1958) won the Tony for best play of 2003, other Tonys, and other awards. Set in the locker-room and shower of a National League version of the Yankees (the Empires), pin-stripe uniformed, defending champions on the way to a threepeat, most of the notoriety and a considerable part of the draw of the, um, "theatrical experience" is copious nudity of all the Empires who are in the play (nine, but two of them are pitchers). Beyond that and the "scandal" of a superstar casually coming out as gay in what had been a routine post-game interview (before the start of the play), the play is exceedingly well-constructed with multiple surprises.

Perhaps the biggest surprise is that the Empires who have been playing with superstar center-fielder Darren Lemming (who has a white father and a black mother, but, more importantly to his teammates and most fans, is batting .333) largely shrug off the news. They are not completely comfortable with the revelation (and discuss showering with someone they now know is gay in a lengthy shower scene...), but are a multicultural team with a Japanese pitcher (Takeshi Kawabata) whose English seems confined to "strike," which is what he usually throws, blacks and Latinos, and a white liberal who narrates the play. Kippy Sunderstrom has officially been Darren's best friend on the team and is disappointed that Darren did not tell him before telling the world that he was gay.

Takeshi is having troubles after the sixth inning, and the team brings up an ultra-redneck (who says he is from Arkansas--or Tennessee or Mississippi, he's not sure) relief pitcher named Shane Mungitt from Utica (where has had an ERA of less than 1.00). Mungitt can throw but doesn't speak to anyone, until Kippy and Darren undertake to find out who he is. Mungitt doesn't know many words, but he knows the derogatory words to offend his team-mates, and manages to use most of them in a post-game interview.

He is suspended, but the Empires need him. Darren is outraged that his feelings are not considered crucial, heedless that "It's all about winning" is what has kept his revelation of being gay from anyone else in the Empires organization calling him names or saying anything in the press about his coming out. Darren has never been a victim and is more than a little arrogant (being rich, very attractive, and the biggest star of the winningest team in what claims to be the "national pastime" tends not to breed humility!) and believes that his All-Star friend on a perennially losing team, who is also a very public "Christian athlete" (Davey Battle) encouraged his honesty.

There is a great deal of miscommunication in the play, and some real surprises that I'm certainly not going to reveal. And some great parts (all male ones), including that of Darren's nerdy new investment manager, Mason Marzac, whose connection to a gay model of machismo thrills him and turns him into a raving Empires fan. The role led to Denis O'Hare winning a Tony playing it in the Broadway production. Although the sudden joining the community of fans is exaggerated, "Mars" (Darren decides he should have a nickname) quickly realizes is that there is an obsession with statistics in regard to baseball. He can easily relate to the quantification of excellence. Plus he really gets off on being with winners, having always been considered a loser as a person.

I think the play in performance is too long (2:40 including a 15 minute intermission in the current San Francisco production). I would cut some of Takeshi's monologue and all of the scene in which Takeshi rants in Japanese and Skippy (who knows no Japanese) provides a translation for the dim-witted Toddy Koovits, who believes he is getting a translation, and cut or cut into Skippy's conversation with Davey Battle. These all enrich the text for readers of the play, and there is a lot to absorb (surprise revelations) in the climactic scene. The reader can stop and think about these rather than be slapped with the next one--reading plays is different from watching performances of them, but may provide particular pleasures of the text. "Take Me Out" does.

There are many issues well-dramatized in "Take Me Out" (including adulation of sports stars, racism, heterosexism, and other intolerances, differential abilities, winning is everything (vs. narrow interpretation of Christianity being everything), multiculturalism, and more). Greenberg fitted the diverse characters and multiple issues together brilliantly. The refusal of Darren to accept any sympathy (have anything to do with being seen as a "victim") is particularly interesting, and his bemusement at Mason turning into a fanatic fan is very funny. A good production with a convincing Darren (like the current SF one) is the best introduction, but the book has its own pleasures and impact(s).

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© 2007, Stephen O. Murray

BTW, Daniel Sunjata, who played Darren on Broadway, was a football player. He also played Langston Hughes in Brother to Brother, and is a regular (Franco Rivera) in "Rescue Me." The part was played here by Brian J. Patterson. He was named one of People Magazine's "50 Most Beautiful People" in 2003.

Gay pride emerges in the play, and this review is another contribution to this year's gay pride writeoff, hosted by JPS246.

For reasons opaque to me, the play premiered in London, where much of it must have been difficult to comprehend (not least the magnitude of baseball star salaries!).




Recommended: Yes