Theater Review: 'Cobb' by The Group Rep

There are some athletes who will forever be known for more than just the sport they play.       

There is no better example than Major League Baseball's Ty Cobb, whose career and life off the diamond are chronicled by The Group Repertory in Lee Blessing's Cobb, the second production of the 38th season at the Lonny Chapman Theatre in the NoHo Arts District, running in rotating repetition with If We Are Women through April 7.

Encountering himself at various stages in his life, Cobb steps out of time and forces us to examine a life at the top where loneliness and nervousness go hand in hand. After all, there is no one to fight, challenge or compete with when one is the best.

Cobb, who played for 22 years from 1907-1928, mostly for the Detroit Tigers, was also known as one of the most despised players of his generation. His spikes filed to razor sharpness and his enemies growing at an ever-inceasing rate, Cobb let his on-field genius speak for itself.       

When he retired in 1928 Cobb held some 90 records, many of which still stand today. But this production focuses on Cobb's humanity, struggles with fame and success, and his parents' influence on him.       

What we see here is not only one man's battle with himself, but with sport, society, racism and his closest rivals such as Babe Ruth.       

It is a sobering, realistic and solemn view of probably the best player in baseball history. The tragic fact is that very few people cared when Cobb died in 1961 or when he was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1936 in the first balloting ever, outpolling Ruth, Honus Wagner, Christy Mathewson and Walter Johnson. Blessing's words are haunting, poignant and work brilliantly on stage.       

Gregg T. Daniel's direction is daring, detailed, confident and intelligent. The four actors mesh, yet maintain their own individuality. Theirs is an imaginative interplay.       

Kent Butler (Mr. Cobb) lights-up the stage with a contagious comedic sense, self-knowledge and maturity. Daniel Sykes (The Peach) makes his character come alive with energy, charisma and convincing passion. Bert Emmett's (Ty) quirkiness and anger frame a character so different from his role as Kanute in Phil Olson's Don't Hug Me, I'm Pregnant that it undescores his versatility and spontaneity.       

But it is Jason Delane (Oscar Charleston) whose resonant voice and presence run away with the show. His monologues are powerful and pure, and his belief in his characer is so unshakable. This is a performer whose best days are ahead of him.       

Aiding the production are Chris Winfield (Set Design), Liz Nankin (Costume Design), Sabrina Beattie (Lighting Design) and Steve Shaw (Sound Design).      

In the end, Cobb is a vivid character study rife with love, doubt and a twinkling sense-of-humor.  But this is no fairytale, rather a battlefield of suffering and anguish few would or could want to experience.  

Times and Dates vary (Call Theatre)

Lonny Chapman Theatre, 10900 Burbank Blvd., North Hollywood, CA 91601 Reservations: (818) 763-5990 Tickets: $15-$22