May 27, 2005  |  By: PATRICK FOLlIARD  | COMMENTS     

AFTER A WINTER of plays about Russia, the Studio Theatre brings the great American pastime to the Mead Theatre. “Take Me Out,” gay playwright Richard Greenberg’s Tony Award-winning comedic drama celebrates baseball along with telling a bumpy coming out tale. The show’s clever title aptly refers not only to “take me out to the ballgame,” but also “out of the closet,” and “out of this world” — as in dead.

Consummately staged by Kirk Jackson, “Take Me Out” delivers on two levels: it’s funny and it has something to say.

Darren Lemming (M.D. Walton) is no mere mortal. Not only is he an adored all-star major league outfielder for the New York Empires, he’s also handsome, rich, biracial and happily removed from everyone. When he inexplicably outs himself during a televised news conference (there are no lovers waiting in the wings, no gay rumors), Lemming’s halo is knocked a wee bit askew, but because of his superhuman ability he retains his niche in the pro sports pantheon.

It’s when the Empires bring sensational but moronic relief pitcher Shane Mungitt (Jake Suffian) up from the minor leagues, that the stuff really hits the fan. A confused racist, Mungitt foolishly chooses to say a few words on air, crudely expressing his discomfort of playing alongside his multi-ethnic teammates, as well as the horror of having to hit the showers with “a faggot” after every game.

As the remainder of the season unfolds, Lemming’s teammates, fans, coach and the media react to his announcement. The fans and media seem OK, and his tough coach claims that Lemming’s revelation changes nothing, but eventually, some of the other players disclose some displeasure.

Both Lemming’s brainy teammate Kippy Sunderstrom (Tug Coker) and his nerdy gay financial adviser Mason Marzac (Rick Foucheux) narrate the action in what often become poignant monologues framing fierce exchanges.

AS MARZAC, FOUCHEUX is playwright Greenberg’s onstage mouthpiece, a middle-aged gay man totally smitten with his new love and eager for the world to know. The love is baseball, and that his relationship with Lemming affords Marzac close proximity to tobacco chewing jocks, only raises the accountant’s heart rate even more. Foucheux energetically nails Marzac’s evolution from a bundle of personal insecurities to an animated advertisement, brimming with childlike enthusiasm for the game.

Walton, Suffian and Coker give terrific performances as well.

There is an awful lot of locker room nudity in “Take Me Out” that is neither particularly off putting nor alluring. Sometimes it’s essential. In a scene after Lemming comes out, his teammates are showering together when one of the players drops the soap. Nobody wants to pick it up. It’s an awkward moment funnily staged. What was once a male paradise is no longer. The guys see each other naked and they don’t like it.

With the team, the playwright has made a mistake. While Greenberg has written a sensitive role in Japanese pitcher Takeshi Kawabata (Ikuma Isasc), the two Latino ball players are sadly one-dimensional. And that’s unfortunate, because capable actors (Anthony Gallagher and Cesar A. Guadamuz) are cast as Martinez and Rodriquez.

But overall, Studio definitely hits a homerun with “Take Me Out.”