The Sweetest Swing in Baseball: Darryl Strawberry, Rebecca Gilman and Me
The best way I can describe it is, sometime in 1986, I was 8 years old and I awoke from a vivid dream and it was all laid out in front of me: Baseball, specifically the New York Mets.
But even more importantly was one player in particular: "Darryl Strawberry":http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darryl_Strawberry. There was no other outside influence that I can remember, my dad was only a casual baseball fan and I’m from Vancouver where it’s hockey and football first. That’s where the obsession started for me and continued into my creative life with my first screenplay which is still undergoing many drafts called Darryl Strawberry, You’re Our Only Hope. It’s semi-autobiographical tale of a young boy and his daydreams of the aforementioned ballplayer.
Then along comes Rebecca Gilman’s play, *The Sweetest Swing*, a tale of a struggling and depressed artist that is checked into a psychiatric hospital and decides to extend her stay by taking on the persona of Darryl Strawberry. You can understand my curiosity when the "Evolving Arts Collective":http://www.thebeaumontstudios.com/theatre.html announced that it would be mounting The Sweetest Swing on the Beaumont Stage.
The Beaumont Studio is a great little space that houses an art gallery, so there’s lots to look at before the show starts, and you’re allowed to bring your drink to your seat, which is always a plus in my book. The EAC made an interesting choice of not printing hand bills; instead they had large, laminated sheets posted on the backdrop of the stage. The sheets were visible throughout the play which makes for an interesting visual dynamic when watching a “play”. I did refer to them at some points to keep track of the actors’ multiple roles, so in that respect I did like it, but I’ll get back to that later.
“The Sweetest Swing” is the story of Dana Fielding (Lori Triolo), an up and coming painter on the verge of mental collapse after the failure of her latest art show. After an unsuccessful suicide attempt, she is admitted to a psychiatric hospital, where she learns that her insurance won’t allow her to stay unless it’s established that she’s a danger to others. Along with her fellow patients Gary (Scott Miller) and Michael (Nic Rhind) she comes up with a scheme of faking a multiple personality disorder. For no better reason than there’s a book of his in the hospital she picks Darryl Strawberry as the persona that will help her to lengthen her stay.
It’s at this point, going into the second half of the play, that the story really starts to cook. Triolo shines as Dana evolves from a depressive character to one full of life that includes the personality of a large, black baseball player. Miller is particularly engaging as the murderous psychopath Gary and along with Rhind, who plays the gay alcoholic Michael, complements Dana inside the “Cuckoo Nest”. Gilman’s wonderful play embodies the themes of the many dangers success can present.
Her choice of Darryl Strawberry is a curious one, because usually it’s players from the golden age of baseball, like Mickey Mantle or Babe Ruth, that are personified in art mainly because they symbolize the American hero from a simpler era. But as easily as players are revered, they are chastised if they don’t fulfill every ounce of potential. Darryl Strawberry was a good player, but never achieved his full potential, which was great. His life spun into turmoil: drugs, arrests and even cancer.
It’s the same dilemma artists like Dana fall into. By achieving success you gain public notoriety, and the more you achieve, the more pressure mounts to continue to achieve. As much as people like to see others do well, they love even more when they fall. There’s not much history in women writing about sports for the stage so the choice of Strawberry may seem strange, but just like Dana, Gilman probably just happened upon his story. That’s how it happened with me and Strawberry, and that’s how many artists find their inspiration. They just happen, and when it works, you run with it.
When Dana starts to embody Strawberry, her art comes alive because of the different choices she makes looking through the eyes of the ballplayer. This eventually catapults her life back into the spotlight and success. What’s left for Dana after the play is over is unknown. So goes the fate of all artists, the highs are high, and lows are low. No wonder most of them (us) are crazy.
Liesl Lafferty directs this very talented cast that’s rounded out with Kate Twa, who plays Dana’s best friend/art dealer Erica and Jenn Griffin whose wonderful portrayal of a New York art socialite got the most laughs of the night with her flamboyant mannerisms. Still, The Sweetest Swing is Dana’s story and it’s Triolo that makes this production a hit (I was going to say home run but that would have been too much).
The only problems I had with this production stem from some of the decisions Lafferty has made with some of the staging and design. As I mentioned earlier, the backdrop of playbill information was fine but a decision to have characters just lie face down or lean against the wall after a scene makes it a very stagy “play” to watch; you’re always reminded that you’re watching one. I can live with those choices as it makes for an interesting watch but I draw the line at actors in bare feet. It’s a major pet peeve of mine, even when I took acting classes. I can kind of understand it in rehearsal but in the presentation of a play it just looks sloppy and unappealing.
Now I left that last point to the end because of a parallel it draws from the play itself. Throughout The Sweetest Swing Dana recalls a bad review she got where the reviewer focuses on the overabundance of red. Near the end of the play, her doctor (Griffin) finds the review and points out that the review is glowing except for one last line where the “red” comment is made. “Nobody bats 1.000," the doctor says.
EAC production of The Sweetest Swing is not perfect but in baseball 3/4 is batting .750 and that’s pretty damn good, just like this play. Somewhere in re-hab Strawberry is tipping his cap.
_The Sweetest Swing in Baseball by Rebecca Gilman; produced by the Evolving Arts Collective; Beaumont Stage, 316 W. 5th Ave. Vancouver; running until Dec. 20. For more information swing over_ "here":http://www.evolvingartscollective.com/