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Excellent Book
- GenresPlays
72 pages, Paperback
First published March 1, 1992
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
June 19, 2019
I'm in this play so I have read it many times.
September 3, 2021
Little differentiation among characters. Indistinct voices. SFX: baseball hit, cheering, National Anthem. Language crude and a little mean. Pointless.
May 11, 2017
Setting: Wrigley Field Bleachers, Chicago, IL, mid-summer 1977
Genre: Comedy Length: 1 act; 60 pgs. Cast Size: 7 M, 2 F
Basis: Original Adaptations: 2002 TV movie
Productions: 1979 taped for PBS, various tours
Accolades: none
Baseball season's underway and so it's my scavenger hunt to read plays about sports. I started with this one - I've read it before but didn't really remember much about it except the fact I didn't love it. I remembered correctly, and actually liked it even less this time around. On paper, I should have and wanted to love this so much. A comedy about fans in the bleachers during a MLB game? That's two of my favorite passions. But this just didn't work. I think a big reason for this was the fact it was collaboratively written by all 11 of the original production's performers.
First of all, it just wasn't funny. I tried giving it the benefit of the doubt by considering the fact the humor was just dated since it was written in '77 - but nope. It's just not funny. It started slow and I kept waiting for it to pick up but it didn't. I can count on one hand the member of times I laughed - literally. Greg was the funniest character as he was ironically written as he gives the play-by-play even though he's blind, though this was very inconsistently and sporadically used. I laughed when they stopped from unveiling as we only say "UCK THE CARDS", Melody's dig at Richie by saying ballpark hot dogs are smaller, pairing his hitting on her with the team struggling, and the taunting of a player for cheating on his wife and getting the "clap, clap".
Not only is this a poorly written comedy, it's a poorly written play. If a comedy isn't going to have anything happen and just go for laughs - fine. But this did neither. If I could skim the pages and not miss anything? Pass.
The whole betting thing got really old, really fast. At least having the wife came in mixed it up a little. Also, it was hard to let go of the fact they went into the next inning as the previous ended with no breaks. I'm sure they did this for pacing/length reasons but the play could have stood to be a little longer to allow more character/story development.
I want to want to direct this play or be in it - but I just don't like it enough. I could do so much with this directing-wise: lots of creative possibilities for staging, scenic design, and especially sounds and music. As the audience is seated, I think it'd be cool to have ballpark smells/sound effects, ushers dressed and acting like ballpark employees, etc. This'd only work in a small venue or black box - think it'd be lost on a bigger stage. Acting-wise, the only characters I'd be interested in playing and are in my age range are Greg or Ritchie: Greg's got the funniest lines with being the blind play-by-play but Ritchie is more different for me.
At first I thought it'd be cool to change the team to the Red Sox, but 1) Not sure if the rights would allow it - then again this is such an unknown no one would probably care 2) you'd have to change quite a lot and 3) with the Cubs just winning the WS, it could be interesting for audiences as is - maybe with some updated player names. I only recognized Keith Hernandez (thank you, Seinfeld) and Billy Buckner (thank you, BoSox lore).
Genre: Comedy Length: 1 act; 60 pgs. Cast Size: 7 M, 2 F
Basis: Original Adaptations: 2002 TV movie
Productions: 1979 taped for PBS, various tours
Accolades: none
Baseball season's underway and so it's my scavenger hunt to read plays about sports. I started with this one - I've read it before but didn't really remember much about it except the fact I didn't love it. I remembered correctly, and actually liked it even less this time around. On paper, I should have and wanted to love this so much. A comedy about fans in the bleachers during a MLB game? That's two of my favorite passions. But this just didn't work. I think a big reason for this was the fact it was collaboratively written by all 11 of the original production's performers.
First of all, it just wasn't funny. I tried giving it the benefit of the doubt by considering the fact the humor was just dated since it was written in '77 - but nope. It's just not funny. It started slow and I kept waiting for it to pick up but it didn't. I can count on one hand the member of times I laughed - literally. Greg was the funniest character as he was ironically written as he gives the play-by-play even though he's blind, though this was very inconsistently and sporadically used. I laughed when they stopped from unveiling as we only say "UCK THE CARDS", Melody's dig at Richie by saying ballpark hot dogs are smaller, pairing his hitting on her with the team struggling, and the taunting of a player for cheating on his wife and getting the "clap, clap".
Not only is this a poorly written comedy, it's a poorly written play. If a comedy isn't going to have anything happen and just go for laughs - fine. But this did neither. If I could skim the pages and not miss anything? Pass.
The whole betting thing got really old, really fast. At least having the wife came in mixed it up a little. Also, it was hard to let go of the fact they went into the next inning as the previous ended with no breaks. I'm sure they did this for pacing/length reasons but the play could have stood to be a little longer to allow more character/story development.
I want to want to direct this play or be in it - but I just don't like it enough. I could do so much with this directing-wise: lots of creative possibilities for staging, scenic design, and especially sounds and music. As the audience is seated, I think it'd be cool to have ballpark smells/sound effects, ushers dressed and acting like ballpark employees, etc. This'd only work in a small venue or black box - think it'd be lost on a bigger stage. Acting-wise, the only characters I'd be interested in playing and are in my age range are Greg or Ritchie: Greg's got the funniest lines with being the blind play-by-play but Ritchie is more different for me.
At first I thought it'd be cool to change the team to the Red Sox, but 1) Not sure if the rights would allow it - then again this is such an unknown no one would probably care 2) you'd have to change quite a lot and 3) with the Cubs just winning the WS, it could be interesting for audiences as is - maybe with some updated player names. I only recognized Keith Hernandez (thank you, Seinfeld) and Billy Buckner (thank you, BoSox lore).
June 12, 2013
This play ran for years at a local theatre I was associated with. It was a surprisingly good sports play, two words I don't think usually go together. Very funny.
August 16, 2015
1 point for gambling relentlessly
1 point for Cub fans
1 point for ending in defeat
1 point for sun tan lotion applying
1 point for Cub fans
1 point for ending in defeat
1 point for sun tan lotion applying
February 5, 2024
Comedy about the Chicago Mets fans.
Read
June 18, 2018This little play grew on me. I was initially put off and annoyed by all the gambling, but eventually saw how it got used in a meaningful way in the structure of the play. The ending was just about perfect. I'd say this play captures the essence of "Cubness." As it was. I'd recommend this to baseball literature buffs (all six of them) and to any sports fans interested in probing the nature and meaning of fandom.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews