Milwaukee Chamber’s Brilliant ‘Sweetest Swing in Baseball’

From expressmilwaukee.com

Theater Review
By Russ Bickerstaff
When someone completely gives up on life, yet realizes that death isn't an option, that person may find a remarkably fresh perspective on reality and identity. Rebecca Gilman does a brilliant job of presenting this state of mind in her dramatic comedy The Sweetest Swing in Baseball. Milwaukee Chamber Theatre closes its season with an impressive production of Gilman's play directed by C. Michael Wright.

Mary MacDonald Kerr stars as struggling artist Dana Fielding. As Fielding, Kerr portrays a beautiful, intelligent vulnerability. She plays the subtle strength behind the character's fragility with an organic sympathy. As the production opens, Fielding sits in the back room of a gallery displaying her art. She fears that the show is going poorly, a feeling that is only amplified by Laura Gray in the role of the gallery's owner. Gray is comically intimidating as a vacuous, confident woman whose intensity is accentuated by Amy Horst's costuming (exclamation points are formed in the negative space on her shoes).

The failure of Fielding's show is a contributing factor to a suicide attempt that occurs between scenes. The next time we see her is at an art table in a mental hospital. She sits in the middle of a table flanked by an addict (charmingly played by Nicholas Harazin) and a highly functional psychotic (played with irresistible enthusiasm by Peter Reeves). Kerr's unforgettable performance is greatly supported by Reeves, Harazin, Gray and occasional appearances by a very sweet Linda Stephens, who plays a friend genuinely concerned about Fielding's well-being. As rendered by Milwaukee Chamber Theatre, Gilman's script captures the extremes to which a psyche will go for a little stability.   

Milwaukee Chamber Theatre's The Sweetest Swing in Baseball runs through May 2 at the Broadway Theatre Center.