Written by: Emily Townley, Staff Writer
"How can you not be romantic about baseball?" - Moneyball (2011)
Picture this: You walk into a space murmuring with excitement. You see other people, just like you, thrilled to be in this space. The lights come up, and suddenly, you are thrust into a spectacle. The crowd roars with applause and laughter, and in some cases, is utterly silent. You leave this spectacle either full of energy or deflated, but hopeful for the next time you visit. Now, did I describe seeing a show at the theatre, or going to a baseball game?
These are two places where I feel most at home. When watching and making theatre, I feel as though I am a part of something larger than myself. The amount of work put into a show, whether it’s from designers or actors, allows for astonishing magic to happen. Above all, it is the reaction of the audience which makes all the effort put into the show worth it. A significant memory from working on the show Bright Star was seeing the audience’s reaction going from tears of sadness to tears of joy. The audience also reacts to how spectacular a show is. The recent revival of Hello, Dolly, for example, captivated audiences because of how grandiose the set was, and how captivating the colors were. These elements of theatricality, the spectacle, and audience are part of what makes theatre, well, theatre.
Pictures courtesy of Emily Townley.
The same could be said about baseball. A group of athletes, all of who have a passion for the game, come together to share that passion with fans. Almost nothing is comparable to the way I felt after watching my team win a World Series game at home, mainly because I was surrounded by people who were rushing on the same wave of adrenaline. While it is the players who are stars of the show, it is the audience that contributes to the theatricality of baseball. Spectacle is something that is new in baseball, however. Mascots (who also have a growing presence on social media) play pranks on players and fans. Players choose songs to walk up to home plate to. Even fireworks and other pyrotechnics go off when the home team wins. Though they seem distant from each other, the art of theatre and the art of baseball are not too different.
It is not just theatricality that connects baseball and theatre, however. Iranian theatremaker Bahram Beyzaii said, “The ancient ritual theatre was a collective endeavour, with no preconceived existence. Passion and necessity, the magic of repetition and collective spirit gave it life.” Why is it that actors don’t mention the name of “The Scottish Play” inside an auditorium? How has the art of performance survived millennia? Every culture has some tradition or ritual related to theatre that has continued and evolved because of its constant repetition. The annual celebration for the gods in ancient Greece evolved into the Greek theatre we know because of its traditions around the art of performing.
While not exactly ancient, theatrical elements of the ritual exist in baseball. Like in theatre, in baseball come from years of tradition. There is always a ceremonial first pitch. Fans stand up in the middle of the seventh inning to sing “Take Me Out to the Ball Game.” Teams also have specific rituals. The New York Yankees (boooo) play New York, New York by Frank Sinatra after winning a home game. These elements are for the audience. However, one of the largest traditions honors the players. The number “42” (which is retired across the league) is worn annually on April 15 to honor Jackie Robinson. While the number “42” is retired across the league, Hank Aaron (who broke Babe Ruth’s home record) has his number (44) retired in Atlanta and Milwaukee because of the impact he left on those teams. Just as they are to theatre, rituals in baseball are sacred to the game.
To quote the movie Bull Durham, “This is a simple game. You throw the ball. You hit the ball. You catch the ball.” The MLB may have a 191-page rulebook, but all in all, baseball boils down to those three essentials. One can play baseball anywhere, whether it’s in an alley with a stick and a ball or at a multi-million dollar stadium. Just like it doesn’t matter where theatre happens. From the flatbed trucks of El Teatro Campesino to the lights of 42nd Street, theatre does not require any rigidity to its craft. Going back to Beyzaii, “the collective spirit” is also what gives theatre life, and because of the simplicity of theatre and baseball, both are malleable to the needs of the people. We make baseball and theatre into what we want them to be.
Today, baseball is slowly embracing its theatricality. The Savannah Bananas, though not a part of Major League Baseball, make the sport even more of a spectacle: Their players do TikTok dances on the field (interrupting the game), one of the walk-up songs is the Harlem Shake, and most importantly, they involve the crowd in the spectacle. Nonetheless, baseball is still central to the experience. Owner Jesse Cole said, “we (the team) exist to make baseball more fun.” The Savannah Bananas experiment takes and runs with baseball’s inherent theatricality to indeed make it more fun. Audiences and players enjoy not just baseball, but the overall experience. And what is theatre, if not to make an experience enjoyable for everyone?
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