Take Me Out (play)

Take Me Out
Written by	Richard Greenberg
Characters	Darren Lemming Kippy Sunderstrom Mason Marzac Shane Mungitt Davey Battle Toddy Koovitz Rodriguez Martinez Skipper William R. Danziger Jason Chenier Takeshi Kawabata Policemen
Date premiered	2002
Place premiered	Donmar Warehouse London, England
Original language	English
Subject	Homophobia, racism, and class in sport
Genre	Drama
Setting	A baseball locker room

Take Me Out is a play by American playwright Richard Greenberg. After a staging at the Donmar Warehouse in London, it premiered Off-Broadway on September 5, 2002 at the Joseph Papp Public Theater. It made its Broadway debut on February 27, 2003 at the Walter Kerr Theatre, where it ran for 355 performances and won the 2003 Tony Award for Best Play. A planned Broadway revival will open at the Hayes Theater in spring 2022.

Background[]

While Glenn Burke was out to teammates and team owners in the 1970s and Billy Bean came out in 1999 after retiring from playing in Major League Baseball for eight seasons, at the time of the writing of this play no Major League Baseball player had ever come out to the public during his career. This play is the dramatic exploration of what such an event might be like.

Playwright Greenberg has stated that one of the compulsions for creating a baseball play was his complete immersion into the sport in 1999 after following the New York Yankees' (then-)record 114-win season the previous year, beginning with David Wells' perfect game.^[1] Many believe the inspiration for Lemming is former American Major League Baseball player Derek Jeter of the Yankees, and for racist pitcher Shane Mungitt, former National League pitcher John Rocker, then of the Atlanta Braves.^[2][3][4]

Plot[]

Much of the play is set in the locker room of a professional baseball team, and as such has an all-male cast that explores themes of homophobia, racism, class, and masculinity in sports.

Act I[]

Darren Lemming, a star mixed-race center fielder for the fictional Empires Major League Baseball team, comes out as gay. His friend and teammate Kippy Sunderstrom warns Darren that the team will feel uncomfortable about his sexual orientation, but is brushed off by Darren. As Kippy wonders why Darren chose that particular moment in time to come out, a flashback to a week earlier shows Darren having drinks with his best friend Davey Battle, a religious player on a rival team. Davey tells Darren that he should want his true nature known to the world. Later, Darren meets with his new accountant Mason Marzac, a gay man uninterested in baseball until Darren's coming out.

The Empires fall into a slump, prompting relief pitcher Shane Mungitt to be brought up from the minor leagues. Shane tells the team that as a child, he was raised in orphanages after his father killed his mother and then himself in a murder-suicide. The team begins winning games again, but in a television interview, Mungitt expresses his discomfort with "colored people" on the team, and that he has to shower every night with a "faggot."

Act II[]

Shane is suspended due to the interview, causing the team to fall back into its slump. He writes an apology letter that is leaked to the public, which combined with the details about his tragic childhood, causes public sympathy to shift in his favor. Shane returns to the team, despite Darren's threat to retire in protest. In the locker room showers, Darren derides Shane for his racism and homophobia, and mockingly kisses him. In the game, Shane is sent to pitch against Davey Battle; the ball hits Davey's head, killing him.

Act III[]

In a flashback to Darren and Davey's final encounter, Davey angrily accuses Darren of using his straight-and-narrow public reputation to conceal his sexuality. Shane is permanently suspended from major league baseball, and arrested for questioning after players say they heard him muttering about wanting to "kill someone" before the game. He refuses to speak to the police, stating that he will only talk to Kippy. Kippy is joined by Darren, and as Kippy attempts to determine whether the pitch that killed Davey was intentional, Shane discloses that the apology letter was written by Kippy on Shane's behalf.

In narration, Kippy states to the audience that the Empires went on to win the World Series, and no charges were ever filed against Shane. Kippy expresses to Darren his desire to again be friends, and Darren invites Mason to the end-of-season party.

Productions[]

London premiere[]

The show premiered at the Donmar Warehouse in London on June 20, 2002.^[5] The production was directed by Joe Mantello and starred Daniel Sunjata, Denis O'Hare, Neal Huff, Frederick Weller, Kevin Carroll, Dominic Fumusa, Gene Gabriel, Robert M. Jimenez, Joe Lisi, Kohl Sudduth, and James Yaegashi. It ran until August 3 of the same year.

The production transferred off-Broadway to the Joseph Papp Public Theater later that year with the same cast and direction where it ran until 2003.

Original Broadway production[]

The next year, the show transferred to the Walter Kerr Theatre on Broadway with the same cast^[6] with the exception of Dominic Fumusa, who was replaced by David Eigenberg. It opened on February 27, 2003. It featured designs by Scott Pask (scenic), Jess Goldstein (costume), Kevin Adams (lighting), and Janet Kalas (sound). At the 2003 Tony Awards, the production won the award for Best Play, Mantello won Best Direction of a Play, and O'Hare won Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Play. It closed on January 4, 2004 after 355 performances.

Planned Broadway revival[]

A Broadway revival will open at the Hayes Theater in 2022. It was originally scheduled to begin previews on April 2, 2020 and officially open on April 23. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the show suspended production on March 12. The cast will be made up of Jesse Williams, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Patrick J. Adams, Michael Oberholtzer, Brandon L. Dirden, Carl Lundstedt, Joel Perez, Hiram Delgado, Ken Marks, Will Harrison, and Julian Cihi. The production will be directed by Scott Ellis and will have a production team including David Rockwell (scenic), Linda Cho (costumes), Kenneth Posner (lighting), and Fitz Patton (sound). The production now plans to open in spring 2022, though this is subject to change.^{[7][8][9][10][11][12]}

Other productions[]

Singapore[]

A limited-run opened at the DBS Arts Centre in Singapore on January 8, 2014. It closed on January 31 of the same year.

Notable casts[]

Character	London 2002	Original Broadway 2003	Singapore 2014	Broadway Revival 2022
Darren Lemming	Daniel Sunjata		Juan Jackson	Jesse Williams
Mason Marzac	Denis O'Hare		Hayden Tee	Jesse Tyler Ferguson
Kippy Sunderstrom	Neal Huff		Tim Garner	Patrick J. Adams
Shane Mungitt	Frederick Weller		Chris Bucko	Michael Oberholtzer
Davey Battle	Kevin Carroll		Johnny James	Brandon J. Dirden
Toddy Koovitz	Dominic Fumusa	David Eigenberg	Seth Adams	Carl Lundstedt
Rodriguez/Policeman	Gene Gabriel		Ren Robles	Joel Perez
Martinez/Policeman	Robert M. Jimenez		Jejie Esguerra	Hiram Delgado
Skipper/William R. Danziger	Joe Lisi		Paul Lucas	Ken Marks
Jason Chenier	Kohl Sudduth		Kynan Francis	Will Harrison
Takeshi Kawabata	James Yaegashi		Hiro Mizuhara	Julian Cihi

Awards and nominations[]

Original Broadway production[]

Year	Award Ceremony	Category	Nominee	Result
2003	Tony Award	Best Play		Won
		Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Play	Denis O'Hare	Won
			Daniel Sunjata	Nominated
		Best Direction of a Play	Joe Mantello	Won
	Drama Desk Award	Outstanding Play		Won
		Outstanding Actor in a Play	Daniel Sunjata	Nominated
		Outstanding Director of a Play	Joe Mantello	Nominated
		Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play	Denis O'Hare	Won
			Frederick Weller	Nominated
		Outstanding Set Design	Scott Pask	Nominated
		Outstanding Sound Design in a Play	Janet Kalas	Nominated
		Outstanding Lighting Design	Kevin Adams	Nominated
	Drama League Award	Drama League Award for Distinguished Production of a Play		Won
	Lucille Lortel Award	Outstanding Play		Won
	New York Drama Critics' Circle Award	Best Play		Won
	Pulitzer Prize	Pulitzer Prize for Drama		Nominated

TV series[]

A limited television series adaptation based on the play by Anonymous Content and Williams will star as Darren Lemming and Greenberg will direct the pilot.^[13]

References[]

Further reading[]

• Greenberg, Richard (2003). Take Me Out: A Play. New York: Faber and Faber. ISBN 978-0-8222-1993-4. OCLC 52722075.

External links[]

• Take Me Out at the Internet Broadway Database
• Take Me Out at the Internet Off-Broadway Database