Rounding Third Doesn’t Quite Knock It Out of the Park

Ocean State Theatre Company kicked off their summer season with Richard Dresser’s Rounding Third. And, while it has many funny moments, it falls a bit short of being a home run. Perhaps a solid triple.

This baseball version of The Odd Couple pits the loud, gruff, “winning is everything” little league coach Don, played by veteran actor Fred Sullivan, against the young, clean-cut and hyper Mike, played by OSTC’s managing producer Joel Kipper, who believes “the fun is in the playing, not the winning or losing.” Needless to say, the two engage in some epic battles ranging across everything from drinking beer, to coaching philosophies, to game-time snacks.

Director Amiee Turner pushes this two-man show along at a good clip, yet some of Dresser’s script slows it down. At times, the humor seems contrived and too drawn out. The opening scene where Don and Mike argue over whether one of them has a drinking problem drags on and the humor fades. Then, in a more serious but still light-hearted note, Mike praying to God for his athletically challenged son to catch a pop-fly gets a bit long-winded.

Though this is a play about baseball, it does delve into many off-field issues. We learn of Don’s wife being unfaithful with his best friend and former assistant coach Tony Barone, who Don relishes in telling Mike was “one knee injury away from the majors.” We also learn that Mike’s wife has passed. It is during these moments, when the two drop their defenses, that a bond begins to form. “The only time I don’t think about [my wife] is when I’m here,” confides Mike after practice.

And even though Don concludes they “could never be friends,” they do sort of rub off on one another and, in a manly kind of way, evolve. When Don’s son and star pitcher quits the team to take a role in the musical Brigadoon, Don feels betrayed and embarrassed. But shame quickly turns to pride after he actually sees the performance and proclaims, “Jimmy kicked ass.”

After Mike expresses his disgust at Don’s suggesting they cheat to win, he can’t but help but brim with joy after his son makes a great catch and the team wins, even though they did technically cheat. It is upon realizing the joy of winning that Mike finally experiences the hope that has always eluded him.

As Don, Sullivan is great fun to watch. He is loud and often inappropriate. When Dresser’s humor falls short, Sullivan’s wildly animated gestures and facial expressions generate raucous laughter and applause, though he does, at times, have a tendency to oversell it, something that worked much better when he starred in OSTC’s production of the slapstick comedy Laughter on the 23^rd Floor last season.

Kipper serves as Sullivan’s fantastically annoying equal. Though he is his own worst enemy, constantly mangling baseball terminology and not knowing the basics like what a fungo bat is, he injects a tangible human element into the play, ultimately confessing, “Don, I really want to win. I never won anything in my life.”

And, once again, the set designers have hit a home run with an authentic fenced-in dugout, a parking lot – complete with the back end of a parked mini-van, a gymnasium and a bar room all on one stage! Varied lighting also smartly sets the mood.

Rounding Third runs through Jun 21. OSTC’s summer season concludes with the Tony Award-winning musical Gypsy, starring OSTC’s artistic director Amiee Turner as Mama Rose, from Jul 8 – Aug 2. All productions take place in OSTC’s state-of-the-art theater located at 1245 Jefferson Blvd in Warwick. For tickets or additional information, visit oceanstatetheatre.org.