1 SATURDAY, JUNE 25. 2005 THEATER REVIEW | ROUNDING THIRD Little-League Baseball play knocks one out of the park By Michael Grossberg >■ Otterbein Summer Theatre will present THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH Rounding Third at 8 tonight and 2 p.m. Sunday, 8 p.m. July 6-9 and 2 p.m. July 10 In the Campus Otterbein Summer Theatre’s deft season Center Theatre, 100 W. Home St., Westerville. opener deserves to be a hit. Tickets cost $18, or $15 for community baseball In Rounding Third, a deceptively simple players who wear their jerseys to the July 6 show stunt-play about Little League Baseball (the disceunt must be mentioned when phoning with only two characters, playwright In orders). Call 614-823-1109. Richard Dresser covers the bases of the suburban American dream, from tbe chal­ lenges of competition and character to the into his complex portrait. stresses of parenthood and manhood. Adams revels in the obsessive behavior Dreiser {Below the Belt) writes comedy- and punchy dialogue of his dominating dramas that ring true about the way men character but also weaves in enough think, feel and talk. anger and disappointment to make Don Lucas Adams plays Don, a savvy but comprehensible if not always sympathetic. sarcastic coach with a tough attitude and Kevin Lowry’s versatile scenic design a win-at-all-costs philosophy. helps maintain the brisk pace with a Zach Kleinsmith plays Michael — or revolving set piece that shifts easily from as Don dubs him, Mike or Mikey — the the back wall of the playing field to the neophyte assistant coach who wants to cluttered back of a van. focus on the fun of playing the game and Using just enough mild profanity to support his son. establish the male milieu. Dresser neatly Michael thinks it’s OK for guys to cry. structures the two-act play in telling When he does so, Don recoils in macho scenes from the coaches’ unpromising dismay. first meeting through team practices, Michael is amusingly clueless when it early games, small victories and setbacks comes to the rules of the game. But Don to the climactic final game. turns out to be shockingly clueless about Who wins and who loses? women and the rules of matrimony. The plot offers enough pleasing twists to Both student actors are terrific, quickly foil second-guessers, but the ultimate win­ making the audience forget their age under ner is the audience, cannily involved in director Dennis Romer’s solid coaching. the interactive piece as members of the Kleinsmith blends intelligence, team the men are coaching. kindness, nerdiness, a bit of wimp- Gp, team — to Otterbein. <ness and some hidden wounds [email protected] ‘Rounding Third’ hits comedic home run on many levels: the charac­ By DENNIS THOMPSON ning, and the mild Michael, who just wants the boys to ter extremes, the opposite Suburban News Theater Critic have fun. approaches, the fish out of water and the interactions 0|ti^rh&iii Summer The­ A playwright once told with the children, which are atre opens its 2005 season me there should be no two- person plays, that at least a both hilarious and poignant with Rounding Third, even though the kids are Richard Dresser’s thought­ third character is needed for ful comedy about life mir­ proper interaction. But in never seen. rored by baseball. this piece more people ■ Lucas W. Adams as Don Dresser has permed a would have been clutter. and Zach Kleinsmith as work that hits home for We get to know the boys, Michael hit the right liotes suburban families. This is the wives, the friends and strike the right balance. the story of two Little REVIEW through the two men’s con­ Going too far in one di­ League coaches who are versations. These take the rection would have made thrown together and form form of verbal sparring and the characters obnoxiously an uneasy alliance. searches for compromise, spiteful or pitifully weak Don is the rough, hard- his son, who has never ■with walls tentatively low­ But we see these men as nosed veteran coach, father played the game. ered but never completely fully dimensional - flawed to the star pitcher and con­ Through victory and de­ dismantled. yet likable human beings. cerned mainly with win­ feat, the two men grapple The setup sounds like Each is doing the best he ning. Michael is the over the best way to lead grounds for a cliched can in his own way. We laid-back newcomer, both the team. They seem like a solution — one will see the identify, empathize, care to the town and to baseball, modem day Odd Couple: error of his ways and real­ and laugh. a corporate executive look­ the gruff Don, who empha­ ize it’s just a game. But nei­ Scene designer Kevin ing to share an activity with sizes punctuality and win­ ther man . is quite the Lowery has designed a ball stereotype he seems to be. field that with minor adjust­ Don is demanding of the ments becomes a gym, a bar kids, but he knows and and the back of a van. cares about their personal Lighting designer Elliot lives. Michael is gripped by France has added some nice the taste of victory more touches, my favorite being than he would have imag­ the gradual appearance of ined. sunshine after a storm. Each deals with personal demons that gradually come Director Dennis Romer to the surface. These give again takes his 20-some­ the chafacters marvelous thing actors and makes us believe they are experi­ texture, while never dis­ enced adults. He has mold­ tracting from and often en­ ed a well-paced, funny and riching the comedy. And this is quite funny, touching piece. Otterbein Summer The­ atre 's Rounding Third con­ tinues at 8 p..m. next Wednesday through July 9 and 2 p.m. July 10 at the Campus Center Theatre, 100 W. Home Street, West­ erville. Tickets are $18. For more information call 614- 823-1109. ------------ Otterbein flirows a curve You may think you know where Ronndi^ Third is going, but you don’t. Much like a pitcher who always has one Theater more surprise up his sleeve, playwright ; Richard Dresser keeps you guessing. RICHARD APES The comedy starts as Little League coach Don meets his new assistant coach, Michael. Don Uves for baseball and, even more, for victory. He expects his pre-teen players directed by Dennis Romer, is well-cast and to use every means at their disposal—not well-acted. ' just the legal ones—to attain it. Lucas A. Adams’s Don is brash enough to be believable when he tells his (unseen) : players, “You’re the luckiest kids in town. You’re on my team.” ! He remains behevable later on when he reveals the darkness behind his quest for victory. “You know who the happy people are?” he asks Michael. “The winners. Everybody else is 30 seconds away from blowing their brains out." Bouncing back from Don’s bitter gibes Uke a Kevlar balloon, Zach Kleinsmith’s Michael at first seems cheerfully oblivious. But he gradually gives the character a brit­ Like the Odil Couple—b\A only to a point: tle edge as he moves closer to revealing lus Lucas A. Adams and Zach Kleinsmith in own dark secrets. ! Otterbein Summer Theatre's Roxmding Kevin J. Lowry’s clever set uses revolv- I Third ing pieces to ease scene changes that move the action from a gymnasium to a ball park Michael, in contrast, doesn’t know much and the back of an old van. about the game, having spent his youth in It’s a good match for the writing and Canada mastering the low-key sport of acting, which smoothly change the nature curling. As for winning, he thinks it’s much of the action from conflict-driven comedy less important than just having fun. to something far more interesting. If you suspect Dresser is setting up a per­ sonality clash of Odd Couple proportions, you’re right—but only to a point. As we leam more about the men and their relationships with their sons and wives, he introduces Otterbein Summer Theatre will present Rounding Third at 8 p.m. today through Saturday and unexpected moral dilemmas and disasters. 2 p.m. Sunday in the Campus Center Theatre, , The laughs keep coming, but now 100 W. Home St. Running time; 2 hours (includ­ they’re of a weightier and richer variety. ing intermission). Tickets are $18. 823-1109. Otterbein’s production of the play. OHIO NEWS BUREAU INC. CLEVELAND, OHIO 44115 216/241-0675 UP PER ARLINGTON NEWS ' CCiLUMBUS, OH ■r'-. W-CIRC, 18,000 JUL-06-20Ut)JUL-06-2005 Comedy about two Little Leapte c®hes earns Major league laughs _______ a work cemedcerned mainly mainly with with wi^ng. w to^ Dresser has penned a work Bv DENNIS THOMPSON Michael is the laid-back that hits home for suburban newcomer, both to the tovm Suburban News Theater Critic families. This is the story of and to baseball, a corporate two Little League coaches executive looking to share m Otterbein Summer Theatre who are thrown together and opens its 2005 season with activity with his son, who form an uneasy alhance. has never played the game. Rounding Third, Richard Don is the rough, tod- Dresser’s thoughtful comedy nosed veteran coach, father See COMEDY, Page 15A about life mirrqred by base­ to the star pitcher and con­ ball. \ COMEDY- Continued from Page 14A Going too far in one direc­ tion would have made the Through victory and de­ characters obnoxiously feat, the two men grapple spiteful or pitifully weak But over the best way to lead the we see these men as fully di­ team.