Fairwind Players’ New Comedy Not Just About Baseball

Brianna Gibbs/KMXT
Local thespians will debut a new play tonight called "Rounding Third," a comedy written by Richard Dresser and directed by local theater enthusiast Andrew Ott. Ott said the play, which follows the relationship of two men coaching Little League, is one he came across some time ago.
“I read the script one time maybe five years ago and I could identify with both characters that were in the show," Ott said. "I was thinking, gosh this reminds me of when I was a kid in Little League and or now as a dad coaching in Little League and I thought wow this would be cool to put on or at least to do".
Wes Hanna and Jared Griffin star in the play, in fact the duo are the only two characters in the play, and opposite ones at that.

Brianna Gibbs/KMXT
Local thespians will debut a new play tonight called Rounding Third, a comedy written by Richard Dresser and directed by local theater enthusiast Andrew Ott. Ott said the play, which follows the relationship of two men coaching little league, is one he came across some time ago.

— (Rounding Third 1 :41 “I read the script one time maybe five years ago and I could identify with both characters that were in the show and I was thinking gosh this reminds me of when I was a kid in little league and or now as a dad coaching in little league and I thought wow this would be cool to put on or at least to do. As time went on I belong to the Fairwind Players and they said hey you know everyone’s going to get a chance to direct a show, Andrew what kind of show do you what to do? And I said oh by the way I do have this play in mind maybe I can do that, there was only two people involved and I thought OK low key, easy to do. So we just got it ramped up and got it off the ground.”)

Wes Hanna and Jared Griffin star in the play, in fact the duo are the only two characters in the play, and opposite ones at that.

— (Rounding Third 2 :44 “One guy is a seasoned veteran, also been through baseball little league himself, has been a champion or almost a champion and will do anything short of cheating to win. Where as the second little league coach is brand new to the game, has no athletic experience, nor does his son, and is now wanting to be the assistant coach. Obviously you see the two dynamics in odd couple, if you will, and the two different philosophical point of views of winning versus playing the game for the sake of playing. And then the interesting thing is the interchange of how their lives, their inner lives, their personal lives, affect how they change on stage. And eventually they actually flip positions.”)

Griffin plays Don, the seasoned, competitive baseball veteran. He joined Ott and Hanna on KMXT’s Talk of the Rock on Tuesday to discuss the play. He said that while a play with two cast members may seem odd, the dialogue is well-written and engaging enough to keep the show entertaining.

— (Rounding Third 3 : 37 “The beauty of the script is that ya even though there are only two characters talking, Wes and I get to create so many other invisible characters out there that all reveal an aspect of our relationships. We had to invent nine players on the team, plus a couple people out in the stands and then the characters of our wives and our bosses. So not only are we working on our characters, we also have to create those characters in the mind of the audience also. So it’s all about relationships so even if baseball or coaching your kids in little league is something strange to you, you will identify with the relationships.”)

Ott said the community shouldn’t shy away from the play if they aren’t a parent or a fan of baseball. He said there truly is something for everyone.

— (Rounding Third 4 : 23 “I think it’s universal to every single parent out there. I think it’s universal to anybody who ever participated in any activity. Whether it be dancing, athletics, debate club, whatever, there’s always this tension of competition and then the tension against that of hey we’re just going to do this to have a good time. And it’s a universal theme throughout the play.”)

The show opens at 7:30 p.m. tonight in the drama pod at the Gerald C. Wilson Auditorium. It will show at the same time and place tomorrow night. Tickets are $12 and can be paid for at the door.

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