Take Me Out is a 2002 play by American playwright

Playwright

A playwright, also called a dramatist, is a person who writes plays.The term is not a variant spelling of "playwrite", but something quite distinct: the word wright is an archaic English term for a craftsman or builder...

 Richard Greenberg

Richard Greenberg

Richard Greenberg is an American playwright. He is the author of over 25 plays including eight South Coast Repertory world premieres: Our Mother's Brief Affair, The Injured Party, The Violet Hour, Everett Beekin, Hurrah at Last, Three Days of Rain Richard Greenberg (1958–present) is an American...

 originally staged by Donmar Warehouse, London

Donmar Warehouse

Donmar Warehouse is a small not-for-profit theatre in the Covent Garden area of London, with a capacity of 251.-About:Under the artistic leadership of Michael Grandage, the theatre has presented some of London’s most memorable award-winning theatrical experiences, as well as garnered critical...

, with The Public Theater. It premiered off-Broadway on September 5, 2002, at the Joseph Papp Public Theater, and made Its Broadway debut on February 27, 2003, at the Walter Kerr Theatre

Walter Kerr Theatre

The Walter Kerr Theatre is a legitimate Broadway theatre. Located at 219 West 48th Street, it is owned and operated by Jujamcyn Theaters. One of the smaller auditoriums in the theatre district, it seats 975....

, where it ran 355 performances. It won the 2003 Tony Award for Best Play

Tony Award for Best Play

The Tony Award for Best Play is an annual award celebrating achievements in live American theatre, including musical theatre, honoring productions on Broadway in New York. It currently takes place in mid-June each year.There was no award in the Tony's first year...

.

Plot

Much of the play is set in the locker room of a professional baseball team, and as such has an all-male cast that explores themes of homophobia, racism, class and masculinity in sports.

The play's main character, Darren Lemming, is a popular and successful mixed-race baseball player at the peak of his career when he decides to come out

Coming out

Coming out is a figure of speech for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people's disclosure of their sexual orientation and/or gender identity....

. Several of his teammates react strongly (some supportive and accepting, and some not), and the drama plays out over the course of a baseball season with tragic consequences.

Background

While Glenn Burke

Glenn Burke

Glenn Lawrence Burke was a Major League Baseball player for the Los Angeles Dodgers and Oakland Athletics from 1976 to 1979....

 was out to teammates and team owners in the 1970s and Billy Bean

Billy Bean

William Daro "Billy" Bean is a former Major League Baseball player who made news in 1999 when he made his homosexuality public.-Career:...

 came out in 1999 after retiring from playing in Major League Baseball for eight seasons, at the time of the writing of this play no major league baseball player had ever come out to the public during his career. This play is the dramatic exploration of what such an event might be like.

Playwright Greenberg has stated that one of the compulsions for creating a baseball play was his complete immersion into the sport in 1999 after following the New York Yankees

New York Yankees

The New York Yankees are a professional baseball team based in the The Bronx, New York. They compete in Major League Baseball in the American League's East Division...

' (then-)record 114-win season the previous year, beginning with David Wells

David Wells

David Lee Wells , nicknamed "Boomer", is a former Major League Baseball pitcher. Wells was considered to be one of the game's better left-handed pitchers, especially during his years with the New York Yankees and the Toronto Blue Jays. He pitched the fifteenth perfect game in baseball history...

' perfect game

Perfect game

A perfect game is defined by Major League Baseball as a game in which a pitcher pitches a victory that lasts a minimum of nine innings and in which no opposing player reaches base. Thus, the pitcher cannot allow any hits, walks, hit batsmen, or any opposing player to reach base safely for any...

. Many believe the inspiration for Lemming is American Major League Baseball

Major League Baseball

Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...

 player Derek Jeter

Derek Jeter

Derek Sanderson Jeter is an American baseball shortstop who has played 17 years in Major League Baseball for the New York Yankees. A twelve-time All-Star and five-time World Series champion, Jeter's clubhouse presence, on-field leadership, hitting ability, and baserunning have made him a central...

 of the Yankees, and for racist pitcher Shane Mungitt, former National League

National League

The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League , is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball, and the world's oldest extant professional team sports league. Founded on February 2, 1876, to replace the National Association of Professional...

 pitcher John Rocker

John Rocker

John Loy Rocker is a retired American Major League Baseball relief pitcher who played for the Atlanta Braves, the Cleveland Indians, the Texas Rangers, and the Tampa Bay Devil Rays as well as the Long Island Ducks of the independent Atlantic League of Professional Baseball...

, then of the Atlanta Braves

Atlanta Braves

The Atlanta Braves are a professional baseball club based in Atlanta, Georgia. The Braves are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's National League. The Braves have played in Turner Field since 1997....

.

Awards and nominations

Awards

• 2003 Drama League Award
  Drama League Award
  The Drama League Awards, created in 1935, honor distinguished productions and performances both on Broadway and Off-Broadway, in addition to recognizing exemplary career achievements in theatre, musical theatre, and directing...
  
   for Distinguished Production of a Play
• 2003 Drama Desk Award
  Drama Desk Award
  The Drama Desk Awards, which are given annually in a number of categories, are the only major New York theater honors for which productions on Broadway, Off-Broadway, Off-Off-Broadway compete against each other in the same category...
  
   for Outstanding Play
• 2003 Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding play
• 2003 New York Drama Critics' Circle Award for Best Play
• 2003 Tony Award for Best Play
  Tony Award for Best Play
  The Tony Award for Best Play is an annual award celebrating achievements in live American theatre, including musical theatre, honoring productions on Broadway in New York. It currently takes place in mid-June each year.There was no award in the Tony's first year...
  
  

Nominations

• 2003 Pulitzer Prize for Drama
  Pulitzer Prize for Drama
  The Pulitzer Prize for Drama was first awarded in 1918.From 1918 to 2006, the Drama Prize was unlike the majority of the other Pulitzer Prizes: during these years, the eligibility period for the drama prize ran from March 2 to March 1, to reflect the Broadway 'season' rather than the calendar year...
  
  

Opening Night Cast (Broadway)

Daniel Sunjata

Daniel Sunjata

Daniel Sunjata is an American actor who performs in film, television and in the theater.-Career:...

...... Darren Lemming

Neal Huff

Neal Huff

Neal Huff is an American actor. He received his MFA from the Graduate Acting Program at New York University. He has appeared on Broadway in revivals of The Tempest and The Lion in Winter and the Tony Award-winning Take Me Out...

........... Kippy Sunderstrom

Denis O'Hare

Denis O'Hare

Denis O'Hare is an American actor noted for his award winning performances in Take Me Out and Sweet Charity as well as the HBO television show True Blood. He is also known for his supporting roles in the films Charlie Wilson's War and Milk...

........ Mason Marzac

Frederick Weller.... Shane Mungitt

Kevin Carroll....... Davey Battle

David Eigenberg

David Eigenberg

David Eigenberg is an American actor. He is known for his role of Steve Brady on the HBO comedy Sex and the City.-Personal life:Eigenberg was born in Long Island, New York and grew up in Naperville, Illinois...

..... Toddy Koovitz

Gene Gabriel

Gene Gabriel

Gene Gabriel is a Cuban American actor most notable for originating the role of "Rodriguez" in Richard Greenberg's award-winning play Take Me Out in London and on Broadway. He is also co-founder of South Florida improv troupe Just The Funny...

........ Rodriguez/Policeman

Robert M. Jimenez... Martinez/Policeman

Joe Lisi

Joe Lisi

Joe Lisi , also credited as Joe Lissi, is an American television actor. He appeared in the NBC television show Third Watch as NYPD Lieutenant Swersky from 2000 to 2005...

............ Skipper/William R. Danziger

Kohl Sudduth........ Jason Chenier

James Yaegashi...... Takeshi Kawabata