Playhouse socks a homer with ‘Rounding Third’

Tom Titus

Opposites attract, occasionally, but more often than not they

repel -- a circumstance that has provided dramatic fodder for

playwrights ranging from Neil Simon (“The Odd Couple”) to Sam Shepard

(“True West”).

The clash between diametrically opposed forces has been the

backbone of the theater since the ancient Greeks. But rarely has it

been so out-and-out hilarious as in Richard Dresser’s new play

“Rounding Third,” now at the Laguna Playhouse in only its second

performance ever -- it premiered last year in Chicago.

The battleground here is the Little League baseball field, and the

combatants are a pair of coaches -- a rough-hewn veteran who espouses

the philosophy of Vince Lombardi (“Winning isn’t everything, it’s the

only thing”) and his green assistant, who subscribes more to

Grantland Rice’s ideals (“It’s not whether you win or lose, but how

you play the game”).

At Laguna, director Andrew Barnicle has mounted a superior

two-character comedy with occasional twinges of drama that come at

you from, well, left field. The fact that both of these characters

have personal issues -- and pretty deep ones -- provides the required

dramatic balance that rescues the play from the abyss of total farce.

As the old-line coach, Michael Mulheren displays all the charm and

sophistication of Archie Bunker, with a touch of Ralph Kramden thrown

in from time to time. As written, his character of Don is a virtual

Neanderthal in the coaching business, but Mulheren manages to find

snatches of humanity buried beneath the bluster, inevitably

projecting the difficulty he experiences in doing so.

Kevin Symons’ Michael is a complete fish out of water, pursuing

his craft only to lend moral support to his Nepalese stepson -- who

just happens to be the klutziest player on the team. As he continues

imploring Mulheren not to call him “Mike” or, even worse, “Mikey,”

Symons gradually grows in his position, though not without some

embarrassing stumbles along the way, such as hitting a fungo ball

through the window of Don’s van.

While “Rounding Third” isn’t quite about Archie and the Meathead,

there are definite parallels. Symons’ humanitarian approach to youth

baseball completely galls Mulheren’s character, and the older coach

counters with some vicious, though extremely funny, jibes. It’s

Mulheren’s blunt, broadside delivery that produces most of the

guffaws, but Symons gets his comic licks in, as well.

Dresser alters the tone in the second act from the continual punch

line to an examination of both men’s characters -- and the

psychological pain both endure but choose to keep hidden.

Mulheren’s complete dismantling of Symons’ cell phone, a la

Gallagher and his watermelons, earns sustained applause, as do some

of the elder coach’s disparaging remarks about the local junior high

school’s musical “Brigadoon” -- which predictably come back bite him

on the backside.

The playwright also employs a gimmick he himself learned as an

assistant Little League coach -- ordering a player to fake an injury

so that a swifter pinch runner might be inserted -- as a plot device

for “Rounding Third,” with the twist being its unintentional use by

the upright assistant who has resoundingly decried this policy.

The sparse backdrops of scenic and costume designer Dwight Richard

Odle work particularly well for this show, as do Paulie Jenkins’

lighting effects.

You don’t have to be a dyed-in-the-wool baseball fan to get a huge

kick out of “Rounding Third,” though it certainly helps. This is a

play local community theaters will be struggling to get their hands

on once it’s released for non-professional production.