By Keolanani Kinghorn
Playing at Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center in Salt Lake City, PYGmalion Theatre Company premiered Lane Richins‘ Play, Near Mint, and it is a delight that you must not miss. Near Mint (as in mint condition baseball cards) is a show about baseball, but it is not what you think. The company describes this work as: Retired major league player Cracker Jack (Calbert Beck) and his long-time radio show partner Pepper (Natalie Keezer) are doing a farewell tour of major league stadiums. Jack has devoted fans of every age, plus a mysterious stranger (Daisy Blake) interested in a very meaningful baseball card–Sandy Koufax (Tom Roche). Jack coaches a little league team called the Arrows.
Among the standouts is eleven-year-old Sandra (Sasha Medura) who has a natural gift for the game. Sandra would love for her widowed mom Kristin (Alison Lente) to get remarried, and Jack is a natural choice. Sandra’s dreams are about to come true when suddenly Kristin sees a side of Jack that she is alarmed by.
Directed by Barb Gandy, Near Mint is set in the 1980s and has a nostalgic vibe and the perfect gnarly 80’s wardrobe (thanks to Maddiey Howell Wilkins) that all ages will adore. Near Mint opens with hilarious banter between Jack and Pepper on their radio station, The Cracker Jack and Pepper Radio Show—AM1370 KHAT, introducing us to a pair of actors who know how to invite us into their story. Beck and Keezer are so easy together, they pull off the perfect best friend duo who have known each other their entire lives. I particularly enjoyed Beck’s comical rendition of “Jolene.” In fact, the acting is excellent by the entire company—just top notch.
The set, designed by Allen Smith, consists of three locations that stay onstage the entire duration of the play. It is sleek and smart, making it easy for smooth transitions, basically non-existent scene changes, and a quick 90-minute show. The lighting, designed by Savannah Garlick, is beautiful and displays vibrant gradient backgrounds in varying colors. A nod to Sound Designer Mikal Troy Klee for bringing us the memorable chicken sounds as customers enter and exit Cracker Jack’s card shop—and also turned into a kind of inside joke by the end of the play.
There is a lot of smart writing by the new playwright Richins, and I found myself writing down the many funny and witty lines throughout the play. Many of them don’t make a lot of sense without explaining the context around each one, but one of them is when eleven-year-old daughter Sandra advises her mom on what to wear on her date with Jack in the city. Sandra suggests the blue dress with cherries on it. Kristin replies, “You don’t wear fruit to San Diego.” Even though there is a lot of baseball talk, which is to be expected, it is all relevant. My favorite scene is the climax of the play because I did not see it coming and I love when that happens.
As the show progresses, the lighting dramatically changes and suddenly Near Mint goes from a fluffy baseball play to a deeply symbolic show. I don’t like spoilers in my reviews so I won’t give it away, but I will tell you what I took away from the show: At the end of the day, baseball is a game. No more, no less. Games like baseball can give you purpose and meaning, but they should never replace the importance of people in our lives. In a politically frazzled country that can sometimes find it hard to see anything but “the game,” let’s remember that it is the players and their families that matter most and that it is our actions rather than our intentions that matter most because good intentions can still result in a less than desirable outcome.
Watching Near Mint, nothing felt over-worked. Owing to Gandy’s deft direction, I loved the genuine interactions between the actors that made it feel like we were watching real people experience life.
Near Mint is a great production about America’s favorite pasttime, one might even call it a home run. But the lessons we learn from this insightful piece will help us “play ball” with more finesse and caring.
PYGmalion Theatre Company presents Near Mint, by Lane Richins.
Leona Wagner Black Box, Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center, 138 Broadway, Salt Lake City, UT 84101
April 28-May 13, 2023. Thursday-Friday 7:30 PM, Saturday 4:00 PM, Sunday 2:00 PM
Tickets: $16.50-$22.50
Contact: 801-355-2787, Box Office Email: info@saltlakeactingcompany.org
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