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Steep Theatre Company continues its Fifth Season with Eric Simonson’s Bang the Drum Slowly. The hard-working company’s season of plays has revolved around a bold, plainspoken theme entitled “Watch a Buddy Die,” where matters of friendship, loyalty, and the fear of facing death have surfaced in solid productions of Catch 22, The Night Heron and Of Mice and Men. Now with Bang the Drum Slowly, those matters are tested against the backdrop of a Major League baseball team’s race to the World Series.
Adapted from Mark Harris’s acclaimed novel, the play centers on Henry Wiggen, pitcher for the fictional New York Mammoths, and his tag-along catcher and friend, Bruce Pearson. On one level, it’s a tale of disparate ballplayers attempting to rise above their dugout banter and prejudice, which threaten their march to the World Series. However, the curve ball comes right up front as we learn of Pearson’s battle with Hodgkin’s disease. As Wiggen narrates what is to be his teammate’s final season, the play becomes a haunting mix of the bittersweet and funny measures that one man will take to help another.
“Most of the truly great baseball stories aren’t really about baseball itself,” said director and company member Tony Adams. “With Bang the Drum Slowly, we are exposing the dignity that can prevail out of a friendship that faces death head on. We’re passionate about offering this glimpse of human truth to everyone, whether they are baseball fans or not.”
“It’s surprising that the tone is rather light and easy, considering the seriousness of Pearson’s disease, which keeps it from becoming too dense,” said company member Jim Poole. “It’s heartwarming narration sneaks up on you, and in fact emboldens your own memory of friends and loved ones whom you may have watched face mortality. There’s something powerful about heroic baseball players acknowledging a certain helplessness during tragic events and yet calling us to at least offer respect to one another.”
Harris’ 1956 mythic novel was first adapted to the screen in 1974 starring Michael Moriarty and Robert De Niro. Chicago’s own Eric Simonson adapted it to the stage in 1992 where it premiered at Next Theatre and has gone on to enjoy wide appeal. Set in the 50’s, the dialogue carries a certain charm from that era, yet is hardly limited to an experience of nostalgia. A roster of the Mammoth’s nicknames – “Dutch,” “Blondie,” “Ugly,” “Author” – pitches the play into the ballpark of allegory.
“The manner in which teammates deal with Pearson’s illness carries poignant relevance for today,” company member Alex Gillmor, added, “Plus it coincides with the beginning of baseball season, so it’s a grand slam all around.”
2005 has proven to be a breakout year for Steep Theatre Company, garnering incredible critical and commercial success. Over 2,000 people came out to see Steep shows in 2005, more than doubling their 2004 attendance and filling the forty-seat, storefront theater night after night. The shows were also huge successes with the critics. Incident at Vichy, Book of Days, and Catch-22 all garnered The Chicago Reader’s “Highly Recommended” designation, and Book of Days, as only the company’s second Jeff eligible show, earned Steep their first Jeff Award Recommendation. In both the Performink and The Windy City Times 2005 year-in-review editions, Incident at Vichy was mentioned as one of the more memorable shows of 2005 and Book of Days was named by Timeout Chicago as one of “The Top Ten Shows in Chicago” for 2005.
Bang The Drum Slowly runs Thursday, Friday, and Saturday evenings at 8 p.m. Performances begin Thursday, May 25, and run through Saturday, July 1. Tickets are $15 and available through the Steep Theatre box office at (312)458-0722. Steep Theatre is located at 3902 North Sheridan Road, where Sheffield and Sheridan meet. Steep Theatre is convenient to public transportation: it is one block from the Red Line "Sheridan" stop and also is served by the 151 and the 80 buses.
The production is directed by company member Tony Adams and features Steep Theatre Company members Alex Gillmor, Peter Moore, and Jim Poole. They are joined by James Allen, Sergi Bosch, Lisa Butterfield, Juan Castaneda, John Coriell, Sam Dyer, Peter Esposito, Jason Frydman, Kevin Gladish, Lauren N. Goode, Greg Hardin, Skippa Hixson, Warren Levon, Julia Siple and Jeremy Van Meter.