Baseballhas supplied the backdrop for several plays. The hit musical "Damn Yankees," August Wilson's Pulitzer Prize-winning "Fences," controversial "Take Me Out" with its onstage nudity.
In theater, as in movies and literature, there's a history of treating the game as a metaphor for life -- the struggle to succeed, the vicissitudes of chance, the hopes placed on just one hit or catch, the yearning to find some purpose in all of those dropped fly balls.
The last analogy is made in Richard Dresser's play "Rounding Third," now being presented at Out North. Unlike the shows named above, however, "Rounding Third" is not about the pros. It addresses the pressures of the game and its manifold meanings via Little League.
The two-man play -- a comedy with some seriously poignant material worked in -- asks the Big Youth Sports Question: Is the fun in the playing, not the winning and losing? Or are children's games a do-or-die preseason for the brutal battlefield of the real world?
Dresser, whose work includes the book for the Broadway musical "Good Vibrations," explained how his play presents the issue.
"It's about two Little League coaches who are mismatched. One believes in winning at all costs and the other believes in nurturing the kids and making sure they have a good time."
The idea emerged from Dresser's personal experiences that began when his own son came home and announced that the coach had given the team a new strategy for the playoffs: Certain kids would pretend to be injured when they got on base so that they could be replaced by faster runners.
Dresser was outraged and eventually became an assistant coach himself. "I was the nurturing kind," he said. But later, when he moved up to become a head coach, his attitude changed. "It became incredibly important to me that these kids win this game."
"I feel very strongly about it both ways," he admitted. "We live in a competitive society, but at the same time childhood is brief and precious. The play is my attempt to resolve those issues."
"Rounding Third" isn't his only stab at it. In another of his plays, "The Pursuit of Happiness," a mother's life loses meaning when her daughter doesn't mail in the application to the "right" college in time. "I keep getting attracted to these subjects," he said.
In 2007, Dawson Moore, director of the Last Frontier Theatre Conference in Valdez, met Dresser at a playwrights showcase.
"We hit it off," Moore said. "I read about 10 of his plays and generally liked everything. But 'Rounding Third' does some very tricky things brilliantly -- particularly in sustaining the drama with only two characters. It's not only highly entertaining, but also has some very legitimate education to offer."
Moore brought Dresser to Valdez as a guest artist for the 2009 conference. At the same conference, Anchorage director Schatzie Schaefers picked up a copy of the script.
"I had just attended a workshop on family theater," she recalled. The presenters had made a point of saying that there seem to be only two types of theater: "Theater for children, that the adults must suffer through, and theater for adults that is too edgy or lofty for children."
The presenters urged directors to present plays that both parents and kids could relate to on several levels.
"When I read 'Rounding Third,' I realized I had found one such play," Schaefers said.
It's not easy to make that kind of theatrical double play. "Rounding Third" fizzled at Seattle's Intiman Theatre, where subscribers are accustomed to nudity, profanity, abstract experimentation, bold statements on inflammatory issues. "Who is the intended audience for this play?" asked one critic, who noted that half the audience -- all adults and few with young children living at home -- left after the first act. Arguably, the theater's management made a miscalculation.
Schaefers, on the other hand, is calculating that Anchorage families will find her production rewarding for both parents and children. "It made me laugh out loud, it made me cry. And it asks important questions about raising kids. I thought it was a great opportunity to present an important play that people can actually bring their middle school and high school kids to see."
(Out North recommends the play for ages 12 and older because of a few profanities and descriptions of adult situations; after watching a dress rehearsal earlier this month, it seemed to me to be suitable for children younger than that as long as they have an attention span that will tolerate two hours with intermission. Note that tickets for those under 18 are $5.)
One thing that may make "Rounding Third" go down well with all ages is the humor. "The play is really darn funny," says actor Mark Robokoff. "The playwright's comic skill is about perfect. It's a great introduction to the (Little League) culture. If you've actually been involved with a team, well, you really shouldn't miss it."
Robokoff plays a head coach who rouses his team with speeches like: "How do we have fun playing baseball? One word: WINNING. Losing stinks!"
Aaron Wiseman is the other half of the cast, a novice assistant coach whose previous sports experience includes soccer and curling. "Win or lose, it's still a pretty nice day at the park," is his philosophy.
Both performers find personal resonance with their characters.
"My role is amazingly easy to inhabit," said Robokoff. "What's interesting is that Aaron and I have somewhat swapped our real-life histories, in that he is the natural athlete and I was the one always getting picked last for teams."
But appearances can be deceiving, said Wiseman. "Because I'm usually a 'get along' type personality, I often find myself with inner conflict when I play organized athletics. I feel fiercely competitive. Of course this echoes the turmoil we see in 'Rounding Third' where a similar balance struggles to assert itself."
In May, after its Anchorage run, the play will be presented at the Valdez conference. In a phone call from his home north of Manhattan, Dresser said he'd love to return to Alaska for it.
"I just loved being there. It was a very intense, exhilarating time," he said. But it's not likely to happen, because he has a new play, a musical, going into rehearsals in Boston. Which isn't all bad, he noted.
"In a sense, I'm the perfect playwright to work with since I'm thousands of miles away and can't interfere with the rehearsals."
What's the new musical about? "The curse of the Red Sox," Dresser said. Its title is "Johnny Baseball."
Find Mike Dunham online at adn.com/contact/mdunham or call 257-4332.
By MIKE DUNHAM
mdunham@adn.com