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by Steve Luber
Boocock’s House of Baseball reviewed June 30, 2005
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In his new one-person show, Paul Boocock deftly shifts his insights and opinions from money and corruption to adultery, drugs, and civil rights. No, this is not about Supreme Court justice nominations; this is about baseball.
The world of baseball doesn't often cross over to the theater world or the political arena (unless players are being questioned at Senate committee hearings, of course). But Boocock takes up the challenge and uses his love of the sport to offer Boocock's House of Baseball, a meditation on "America's pastime" and its eras of greatness, its problems, and its influence on and resonance with American life. The parallels are greater in number and relevance than one might think.
Boocock posits that the great virtue of baseball—and, by extension, democracy—is that it's a sport for both individual achievement and teamwork. More important, however, is that each is impossible without the other. Whenever this balance is upset, problems inevitably follow.
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| Photo Credit:Theo Stanley |
| "In 1920, Babe Ruth hit homeruns," Boocock says, smiling. "Lots of homeruns." The country went crazy for this new phenomenon, and the definition of a "slugger" was adopted accordingly. But leave it to the men upstairs to take the fascination with Ruth and package it. Soon, bats were getting lighter, balls were knit tighter, and back fences were lowered. Just a few years ago, the story of homerun rallies by Mark McGuire and Sammy Sosa were consistently making the front page, and not long after, whispers about anabolic steroids were heard and made their way down to Washington. All of this because George Herman Ruth could really hit a ball.
The American dream of making everything better, bigger, and faster has not ignored the sport of baseball. And Pete Rose's betting against his own team is not a far cry from George W. Bush's backroom agreements with Saudi Arabian royalty.
But Boocock is harsh only out of a profound love of sport and country. The light in his eyes and spring in his step as he recounts the winning of pennants or series make that clear. And he's good at telling the stories—moments of Ken Burns-esque banality are rare, and Boocock reins it right back in when things go astray.
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| Photo Credit:Theo Stanley |
| Even more enjoyable is his physicality in reenacting Darryl Strawberry's partying or in imagining the gun-toting, trigger-happy Texan cheerleaders of Bush's Rangers. Mary Catherine Burke's direction weaves these sequences into the monologue with grace and hilarity. Boocock's fantasy world is also beautifully translated by scenic designer David Evans Morris, sound designer Jake Hall, and lighting designer Jeff Croiter, who all bring the spirit of the baseball stadium to the comfort of a downtown black-box theater.
A sense of nostalgia for more innocent days and the ability of a sport to bring the country to its feet can be dangerous when it's poorly and superficially examined (see Seabiscuit and Cinderella Man). Boocock's allegory, on the other hand, hits a bit closer to home than even he may realize. In baseball, as in politics, there has always been greed and corruption on all levels, racial discrimination and exploitation, sex, and drugs. Baseball is still a good ol' boys club, enjoyed by a predominantly white audience, much like politics. And although Babe Ruth was a gifted player and American icon, he was also a heavy drinker who contracted numerous STDs from seeing too many prostitutes and financed the world's first tracheotomy for himself.
Baseball is attempting to adapt to the times while in constant danger of being bankrupted by other, faster contemporary sports such as football and Nascar racing, and while the problems faced by baseball may run deeper than Boocock lets on, Boocock's House of Baseball remains exciting, entertaining, and engaging.
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Downstairs @ The Flea
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Category: Solo Performance
Written by: Paul Boocock
Directed by: Mary Catherine Burke
Produced by: Saribrett Productions
Opened: June 30, 2005
Closed: July 23, 2005
Running Time: 60 minutes
Theater: Downstairs @ The Flea
Address: 41 White Street
New York, NY 10013
Yahoo! Maps Directions
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Tickets: $15.00
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Creative Team
Written and performed by: Paul Boocock
Directed by: Mary Catherine Burke
Scenic Designer: David Evans Morris
Lighting Designer: Jeff Croiter
Costume Designer: Jessica Gaffney
Sound Designer: Jake Hall
Assistant Lighting Designer: Grant Yaeger
Crew
Stage Manager: Jennifer DeSimone
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