Imagine a world where all fairytales are discovered to be real, then combine it with the reality of the world that we live in. Within that world you could imagine the tiny people from Gulliver’s Travels (Lilliputians) facing off against the Munchkins of Oz live on television.
That is the world of ‘Small Ball: An Offbeat Musical.’
Now on stage at Suzanne Roberts Theater, ‘Small Ball’ is an absurdist comedy that walks a tight-rope between the real world and fairytales, as a cigarette smoking human named Michael Jordan joins the 5 to 6 inch tall Lilliputians in a fairytale basketball tournament.
One may expect that a play with that premise would be saturated with characters from all of the most famous stories throughout human history and would be filled with whimsy and magic.
However, ‘Small Ball‘ goes in a completely different direction. The story never leaves Lilliput; there is more sarcasm than whimsy; and rather being too focused on the logistics of magic or astute basketball observations, the show’s focus is entirely on being funny.
The entire show is framed through the perspective of post-game press conferences using innovative set design. Scenic Designer Christopher Ash and Lighting Designer Thom Weaver are the unseen stars of ‘Small Ball’, which masterfully implements mis-sized props and slick lighting to maintain the illusion that the Lilliputian characters are 6 inches tall. The show also utilizes scenes performed in a silhouette style using lighting shined through a canvas to reinforce size-difference visual illusions.
Simply put, ‘Small Ball’ is very funny. Writer Mickle Maher filled the show with unexpected one-liners, fresh dialogue and song lyrics that veered from thought-provoking to ridiculous. ‘Small Ball’ bobs and weaves through a simple-funny narrative while staying consistent in its journey through the themes of fictional literature, analytics in sports, love, and failure all wrapped in a gut-busting meta-commentary about sports media.
Laughter could be heard throughout the Suzanne Roberts Theater during Thursday night’s show, but it was outrageous dialogue and the hilariously over-the-top musical number ‘Tiny People’ that made ‘Small Ball’ a bullseye for its target audience of 21- to 45-year-olds.
Every actor brought their A-game — the characters from Lilliput were larger than life caricatures that always stuck their landing. Jordan Dobson and Amy Warren, who played the two “normal human beings,” grounded the performance and brought humanity to the wild antics of the Lillipiutians.
Interestingly, ‘Small Ball’ was commissioned and co-produced by Sixers President of Basketball Operations Darryl Morey. After watching the show, it is fair to say a few things about Morey — he does not like press conferences, he loves analytics, and he’s got a good sense of humor.
‘Small Ball’ is worth-seeing, especially if you are a Millennial that likes sports and/or absurdist humor. It was a truly unexpected show, the jokes are out of left field, the points are poignant, and they’re not doing too much. The music, set design, and cast size are minimalistic — there is not a ton of variation, yet the show is incredibly satisfying.
‘Small Ball’ is on stage at the Suzanne Roberts Theater now through June 29. For information and tickets, visit philadelphiatheatrecompany.org
