Rounding Third

Richard Dresser’s Rounding Third calls to mind The Odd Couple, except that it takes place in the world of Little League baseball and it’s not as funny. Don (Robert Clohessy) is a brash, aging jock who can still remember the wins and losses of his own Little League career. Now, as a coach, he rules his team with an iron hand. Michael (Matthew Arkin) is a nebbishy new assistant coach who is chronically tardy and whose prior sports experience is limited to being on a curling team as a young boy. (Curling is a Canadian sport played on ice and involving granite stones.) Predictably, the two men clash repeatedly in terms of coaching style, rules of behavior, and game strategy.

Clohessy and Arkin do a fine job with the material they’ve been given; they play well off of each other and have enough energy and stage presence to carry this two-hander, but the play itself is formulaic; there are a few curve balls thrown in to keep it interesting but, for the most part it unfolds pretty much exactly as you’d expect. Sitcom-style humor, role reversals, and broadly drawn characterizations are pretty much guaranteed from the first scene.

Although we are provided with a lot of character background, it’s mostly done via awkwardly contrived exposition rather than through organic contributions to the play’s rhythm and flow. And some things are never explained. What, for example, is the relationship between Michael and his stepson, Frankie? Michael claims to have an interest in Little League so that he and Frankie can have a “special activity” together, but a monologue late in the play reveals that this is going to be Frankie’s one and only year of playing the sport. The reason for this limitation is never given, nor is the subject brought up again. It’s clear that Frankie is the worst player on the team, but is he so bad that he and Michael have decided to call it quits? If so, how does this affect the father-son relationship?

The script is not the only drawback in this production. Director John Rando doesn’t seem to have well coordinated his staging with the set design of Derek McLane. The back end of Don’s van is one of the major playing areas and, since the set never changes, the van is visible at all times — even when Don is late to practice, leaves early, or is not supposed to be there at all. Another odd staging moment occurs when Michael goes to help his son find his glasses, which the boy dropped in right field: Michael exits at the rear of the set instead of moving forward, where it has been visually established that the playing field is located.

Rounding Third does contain some truly funny moments. Based on the reactions of patrons surrounding me, it seems like it could be a real crowd pleaser. But the author has taken no risks. Ultimately, this feels more like an acting exercise for the two performers rather than a fully fleshed out play.