Love and Baseball - Artistry

A charming two-person romantic comedy that runs around the bases of baseball. Directed by Eric Morris,  with Dustin Bronson and Kendra Mueller, Love and Baseball, written by Jerry Montoya, explores a very unique situationship...or the start of one? At the end of the show I think it is left up to the audience to decide for themselves what this may become. Here is how it starts. Will (Bronson) comes home to his apartment, or house (we only see one room but I believe porch is references, as are other rooms), that he shares with his friend Michael. Will discovers a woman (Mueller) sitting on the couch. This is the first meeting between Will and Michele (Michael's best friend). She used to live there but moved out when she got into a relationship, yet she kept a copy of the key. Michael and her have an appt? date? friend date? to go see a movie, but he is running late and so she let herself in.

What we see is Will struggling because he is a huge baseball fan and rushed home to watch the game...but now there is this woman, and sparks are starting to flash between them as they navigate this first meeting. It is a charming and funny meeting, while also being a bit sassy and snarky. We find out a lot about both of them. Will is a writer and filmmaker who enjoys story telling. Michele is a Philosophy teacher. She asks what makes for a good film, or a good story, and he responds "conflict." Michele tries to understand Will's obsession with baseball. He tries to explain by acting out a scene about the single hit that won the LA Dodgers the pennant in the 1988 World Series. The one pinch-hit walk-off home run by Kirk Gibson. Will is passionate and his excitement is infectious. We see the sparks grow into a mutual attraction, a strong one, but Will tells her that he is leaving the following day to film a documentary in Mexico for six months. Here is the conflict of the story. At this point he also does that romantic comedy man thing where he asks her to come with him, as if she has no responsibilities and should drop everything for him though they just met. Luckily she makes that same point. The scene ends, and while Bronson steps off the main playing field, we watch Mueller make some calls and leave him voice mails, asking if she should visit during the Christmas break, letting him know that she bought a ticket, then asking for confirmation that he will be there to pick her up...then finally a call cancelling her plane tickets as he never responded.

The next scene starts with Michele organizing gifts, and we see her working on a seating chart. Clearly a party is coming and we find out, when Will shows up at the door, that two years have passed and this is the eve of her wedding to Michael. The conflict continues, and we see that the sparks never died. Clearly there is tension between them, and during this second meeting we hear both sides of the story, tensions are eventually eased, and Will tells another baseball story. This time about a double-play, if I recall. I'm not a big sports fan but I saw what the writer/Will was doing, first meeting - single play, second meeting - double play. Again, while tensions are eased and sparks are still flying, the scene ends with them going their separate ways. The final scene brings us to the point we have been waiting for.

The set is a single apartment living room-style set...chairs, sofa, coffee table, stereo with record player, and a tv. This is surrounded on three sides by chain mail fences, like you would see at any ballpark. Behind the fences on each side is a single bench (like a dugout) which provides a space for the performer to change costumes, grab props, etc. On the floor, under the furniture, is the layout of a baseball diamond, with the home base being front and center. The costumes are perfect for the characters, with some LA Dodgers gear showing at points. The acting is perfect, the direction/staging is perfect, the music choices are fantastic. Bronson and Mueller know what they are doing and the performance felt very relaxed, like they truly enjoyed performing this script and this show. That was visible to the audience, the joy of doing a script like this, and the comfort they had with each other. Nothing could be better than seeing a show like this - well written, directed, acted, everything falling perfectly into place.

Personally I found a few challenges to it, but these are more challenges of the romantic comedy genre than this specific work I think. The first I already mentioned - the fact that typically the man asks the woman to drop everything for him. I may not watch too many romantic comedies but I don't think there is often a time where a woman asks a man to drop everything to be with her, it always tends to be the other way around. The other challenge is more of a question about appearance. Do we the audience need to find the performers attractive in order for the romance to work? to be invested in the story? Or does the audience get invested because the actors are invested. We see the sparks fly between the characters and so we fall in love along with them regardless of their looks? Something to take into consideration next time you watch a romance, or a romantic comedy. Regarding this specific show, I was invested in the characters and the story. It is a charming story with plenty of laughs, and possibly some tears. A joy to watch...like a good baseball game.