Full Court Press

Playwright Donald Lewis crafts a powerful and provocative exploration of racism, sports and the male psyche set in the men's room of a downtown Chicago hotel while the NBA draft is being held in a ballroom upstairs. Lewis writes in a muscular, blue-collar style, full of colorful character riffs but with a strong sense of structure and conflict. In the tradition of writers from the 1930s and '40s, he delivers vital, living characters with a pointed, political focus.

The play is set in a very literal male domain - a men's room that reflects the faded elegance of grand old hotels and is clearly one or the last remaining male bastions.

On a deeper level, the play inhabits another largely male domain - professional sports, which is a primary arena for many of the swirling cross currents of American society, including racial tension.

Presiding over the dying decorum of this men's room is Henry (Pops) Witherspoon (Felton Perry), a black man of grace and wisdom who has served a mostly white clientele for decades.

Into his kingdom of propriety marches a series of invaders, beginning with sports columnist Ryan O'Connor (David Mark Peterson), a blowhard Irish-American with a knack for self-promotion, and a diehard young Bulls fan, Keith Goldman (David Kaufman).

They are joined by Frank Rivera (Frankie Como), a smooth T-shirt entrepreneur; liberal activist Ed Gustafson (Dick DeCoit); black militant postman Darnell Jackson (Frederick Dawson); racist cab driver Bobby Zielinski (Robert Gantzos); and former star forward and Bulls executive Anthony (Silk) Robinson (Christopher B. Duncan).

While the talk centers on who the hometown Chicago Bulls will pick in the upcoming draft, a heated, flowing discussion soon ensues about white and black players and the larger issue of racism in sports.

It may be a moot point for the NBA, but for these men it raises the bigger issues of racial tension, social inequality and, perhaps biggest of all, drastically changing ideas about the male psyche.

Sports are everything for these guys, whether they make it their profession or not. Each regards himself, in different ways, as a warrior and sports as his battlefield. Every one of them seems prepared, at some point, to risk his life for what he believes in.

It may seem ridiculous to pour your heart into the Chicago Bulls or the NBA or any other sporting endeavor, but these guys do, along with a significant portion of the rest of America.

The racist cab driver Bobby and the militant postman Darnell are the extremes on the spectrum of racial conflict, but everyone else, even the well-meaning liberal Ed, has been infected to some degree by racism and hatred. Everyone, it seems, except Pops Witherspoon, who has endured the humiliation of racism and still manages to love his fellow man.

The ensemble performances are uniformly excellent under the crisp direction of Claudia Jaffee. Perry is a memorable standout as Pops.

Peterson is solid as the beleaguered sports writer, as are Dawson, Kaufman, DeCoit and Duncan in their portrayals.

Gantzos is terrifyingly convincing as the sociopathic cabby, and Como does a winning turn as the Hispanic T-shirt hustler.

Set designer Rahman DeShongh creates a wonderful set that focuses and dramatizes this fine piece.