Ty Cobb. The Georgia Peach. The Major League Baseball player who set 90 records, many of which he still holds today.
Although Cobb was known for his tremendous performance on the diamond, he was also known for his reputation as a violent, racist, surly man, and so as the subject of Chicago Street Theatre’s newest play, Cobb, the man, the boy, is examined for his contribution to American culture.
Directed by award-winning director Justin Treasure, “Cobb” features actors Andrew Elderkin, Mike Johnson, Tom O’Neill, and Garrett Wilson who bring this important production to life, says Marketing Director Eric Brant.
“We selected this script because we are celebrating our 60th anniversary, and so we want to pay homage to our members and original works and our community. We dedicate this play to late Valparaiso resident Harry Danning, a catcher for the New York Giants from 1931 to 1942 who had a great love of the game,” says Brant.
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Danning’s daughter, Viktoria Voller, says honoring her father through this play is meaningful to both her family and the community.
“My dad always said that theater, like baseball, is about bringing the community together in an optimistic way, and he liked that,” said Voller who helps to produce Cobb.
n Treasure says he has wanted to work with this script for years after falling in love with it in high school.
“People will like this production because of what they’ve heard about Ty Cobb, and we hope they will learn to question what we mean by success and the concept of legacy. It’s about how everything we ever do in our lives, everything we don’t do in our lives, it’s what we’re really made of beneath that all,” Treasure says.
Brant says the play looks at the various stages of Cobb’s life in order to get at the heart of the message.
“It’s an 80-year-old Cobb who meets a 19-year-old guy named Peach, who is the rookie version of him, and he meets Ty, who is the 40-year-old version of him. It’s Cobb examining his life and where his stubbornness took him, where his bigotry took him. It’s like that therapy game — what would you in the future say to you now,” Brant says.
Augustyn is a freelance writer.
“Cobb”
Chicago Street Theatre, 154 W. Chicago Street, Valparaiso
May 22-June 6, 8 p.m. and 2:30 p.m.
Tickets $17-$28
219-464-1636 or chicagostreet.org