L - R Kent Butler, Daniel Sykes, Bert Emmett - Photo Credit Sherry Netherland |
By Joe Straw
You know, that first moment when an actor steps on the
stage, you know. You know, when the
actor speaks his first line, you know.
You know, when he takes his first step, you just know you can relax and
let the actors do their stuff, let it happen, and hope in the end it feels right.
Cobb was that kind of play.
The Group Rep presents Cobb by Lee Blessing and directed by
Gregg T. Daniel at the Lonny Chapman Theatre in North Hollywood. This is a delightful
play that will cause you think about time, space, and baseball. And although there are only two characters in
this play, there are several names mentioned to read up on, Ty Cobb, Oscar
Charleston, Babe Ruth, Josh Gibson, and Jack Chesbro (the only pitcher to win
41 games in a MLB season) to name a few.
The Lonny Chapman Theatre is an appealing theatre and the parking
is free if you get there early. Everyone
is affable and considerate. I had the pleasure of speaking with 87-years-young
Elliot Goldwag, an actor, and Larry Eisenberg, the co-artistic director. Long story short, The Lonny Chapman Theatre is
a beautiful space with comfortable seats and a wonderful venue for this type of
production.
One interesting thing about going to theatre is that no two
people will ever agree on the meaning of the play. It’s all this self-interpretation
that keeps the mind working to its effective peak. One may agree or disagree
with the actors’ and directors’ choices and get into a lively discussion
later. I know I do. In the end, it’s all about getting a handle
on the craft.
The acting in Cobb is marvelous with only minor notes about accents
and a few other things—but more on this later. This play is something that is
not completely baseball but rather deals with the depth of human emotions, with
baseball as its smothering atmosphere.
There is a deeper meaning to Cobb because of one little note
in the program, “Time 1886 – 1961 and
later”. Later? Cobb died in 1961. Oh? So we’ve got that kind of play, a Rod Serling, Field of Dreams type of play.
Something to take the mind to another dimension of sight and sound, “Whose
boundaries are that of imagination.”
Nevertheless, Lee Blessing's Cobb is a thought-provoking play that can be
taken literally or seen through the eyes of a character’s afterlife, or through
someone whose mind is slightly off kilter. One believes that Gregg T. Daniel,
the director, took this show a little more literally. More on this later.
But one prefers the afterlife scenario. A walk down the historical
perspective past life seems the logical choice when interacting with other Cobb
personifications on stage.
That aside, and while all of this is going on, we are being
treated to the play about the life of the iniquitous Ty Cobb and his life in
and out of baseball and good old-fashioned baseball stuff.
When the play starts, and from the vomitory, the older Cobb,
Mr. Cobb (Kent Butler) marches down the stadium steps and gives us a little
history of his life and of his game. Cobb still has the bitter edge that made
him one the meanest players in the game but wants his past recriminations
forgotten because his objective is to build a bridge for a grand legacy for
himself. His mind not as sharp as his
younger days and he has a different view of the past whether it is a forgotten
past or self-inflicted forgetfulness remains to be seen.
The younger Cobb, The Peach (Daniel Sykes) is an angry young
man. He is angry that his father told
him not to come back a failure. And he
is angry that his mother took both barrels of the shotgun to kill the man he
called, Dad. Cobb was 18 when this happened and, while his
mother was fighting the charge of murder, he took a no-look-back approach to his
life and the game of baseball.
There is also another side to this Georgia Peach, he is a
racist and will not play with men of color, meaning “Negros”.
So what have we got here, rounding the bases, is another
element thrown in to round out the nasty going-ons of Cobbs' life, Oscar
Charleston (Jason Delane). Charleston is
a mysterious player who keeps appearing throughout the play taking a mental bat
and hammering all three Cobbs about their unwillingness to play with black
people. In Charleston’s mind, Cobb
cannot have that legacy until he recognizes Charleston’s name and accomplishments.
Still the ghost of Charleston is just one more nasty overachieving athlete who
wants recognition. There is a reason he
was called the black Cobb because he was, one, as mean as Cobb and, two, his
lifetime batting average was similar to Cobb’s.
Cobb’s life was a “Goddamn Greek Tragedy”. Well, maybe so, and maybe not.
But the middle aged Cobb, Ty (Bert Emmett), is a man who
enjoys the fruits of his labor and his wise investments. He takes the approach of not apologizing for
doing what he needed to do to get ahead for himself and his kids. His
investment in Coca Cola and GM proved to be a bountiful harvest. He is not quite sure that he needs a legacy
at the moment but in the back of his mind, maybe he does.
None of the Cobbs have lost their sense of grand designment
and their historical importance to the game of baseball. Still in this play, they all want something
they feel they don’t have. And that is a
legacy.
There were three actors playing Cobb at various stages in his
life. The three were on stage together,
mentally battling it out, and at one point threatening to shoot each
other.
Kent Butler as
Mr. Cobb was more moderate in the later stage of life, willing to forgive and
forget and sees life the way he thought it was supposed to be, baseball and
all. The player is still in him, the awards, and the glory. But he wants a legacy. He wants to be remembered. What stands in his way are the players from
the Negro leagues who he would not play against. Butler is marvelous as he opens the show,
stepping down the tiered aisle as though it were a stadium and telling us about
his glorified life. This is a wonderful
performance by a splendid actor.
Daniel Sykes as
the Peach is the young upstart from Georgia.
He enters the big leagues tarnished by the baggage his parents gave
him. Involuntary manslaughter. It is a
cross he carries throughout his career and he can never be famous with this
dark cloud hovering overhead. So to make
up for it, he plays to please his murdered father. Sykes has a very good look and
plays the character with a purpose, being the best he can be. Still, he needs to find the edge, the
character trait that will put him over the top.
I expect he will get better with each performance providing he stays
healthy from all of his physical activity on stage.
Bert Emmett plays
Ty, a spry middle-aged man in his post baseball career. He is a man whose head is held high after an
extremely successful baseball career. He
is still fighting for his legacy and through the pain of having one parent
killing another. But he has his eyes wide open, always looking for the next
opening in his life, shooting the gap, and sliding home, sharpened cleats in
all.
L - R Kent Butler, Jason Delane, Photo: Sherry Netherland |
Jason Delane
played Oscar Charleston, The Black Cobb, an infamous player from the Negro
Leagues. As the character Charleston, he
wants more than anything to be known. He
is a dream in the unnatural world of death, a reminder to Cobb that he is not
the only one left with a legacy. He wants justice and recognition from the one
man who can give him legitimacy and he’s not going away until he gets it. This
was a marvelous performance by an actor with a clear and strong voice.
Gregg T. Daniel’s
direction was marvelous in many ways.
Certainly his focus is strong and he guides the actors in marvelous
detail. There are strong elements to Cobb being a racist and those moments are
solid and hit home. Daniel doesn’t let us
forget that there were two Americas back then, one for whites and one for
coloreds. It is a point that needs to be made and he does so extremely well.
But I think this play needs one more level and that is the
supernatural level. It can be a small and effective change should the director choose
to include it. Also, I’m not sure the
gun scene worked effectively to a truth that propels the story.
At the talk back after the show, it was suggested the Georgian
accents were different for various reasons.
I have many relatives in Georgia
and I get a kick out of listening to them speak. My question is: Why would one want to remove a marvelous
character trait like dialect and make it less?
But these are only small quibbles.
This is a marvelous show and if you love baseball, you should go.
Chris Winfield was wonderful as Set Designer and the
Lighting Design was done by Sabrina Beattie. Liz Nankin did a wonderful job as
the Costume Designer. Sound Design was
by Steve Shaw. Fight Choreographer was
by Edgar Landa although I don’t remember too much fighting going on. The
Baseball Coach was Greg Johnson. The
Assistant Director was Colette Rosario and the Public Relations job was by Nora
Feldman.
Richard Alan Woody is the Producer for the Group Rep, Donna
Michel was the Stage Manager. Christian
Ackerman did a very fine job as the Cobb Videographer. Sherry Netherland provided the actors stills.
In fact, run!
This show runs in repertory with If We Are Women by Joanna
McClelland Glass through April 21st 2012.
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