From court to stage: ‘Pickleball’ finds its way to drama and comedy at Venice Theatre

Jay Handelman, Sarasota Herald-Tribune
·3 min read

A couple of years ago, actor and playwright Jeff Daniels shared a story on “Live with Kelly and Ryan” about how his wife had become obsessed with pickleball. During regular phone calls home from the location set of his TV series “American Rust,” she would talk about the game, her lessons and dink drills.

“To me, it's like I’m drinking paint,” he told the talk show hosts. “And all of us are drinking paint and we are getting lessons in drinking paint. That’s what I’m hearing.”

But he also heard something else in their conversations, which “started him thinking about writing a play,” said director Ric Goodwin, who is staging Daniels’ “Pickleball.” It opens Friday at the Venice Theatre’s Pinkerton Theatre. Considering the popularity of the game, it shouldn’t be surprising that the theater has already added several Saturday matinee performances to the run.

“I would call it a smart comedy. He’s poking fun at something that’s so near and dear to the people who play it. They will even understand that he is poking fun at them,” Goodwin said. He added that the play has elements of farce and screwball comedy.

Actor Jeff Daniels at his home in Chelsea, Mich. in 2020. His play “Pickleball,” which he wrote for his Purple Rose Theatre Company in Michigan, has its regional debut at Venice Theatre.
Actor Jeff Daniels at his home in Chelsea, Mich. in 2020. His play “Pickleball,” which he wrote for his Purple Rose Theatre Company in Michigan, has its regional debut at Venice Theatre.

It follows four characters “who are more or less addicted to the sport and their attempt at advancement and getting a higher pickleball rating to join this tournament, which is run by a pickleball champion named Perfect (played by Kathi Faulkner).

Neil Kasanofsky plays Sheldon, who injures his gluteus maximus when his partner, Spike, poaches a shot, causing him to waddle through the play, Goodwin said. Daniel Cole plays Spike, who is now looking for a new partner to keep playing toward the tournament. He ends up with Jimmy Choate as Angry John “who just gets angry at everything, including himself when he messes up on the court,” Goodwin said. “No one really wants to play with him.”

Lynne Doyle plays Billie, whose partner goes for a dink shot and collapses over the net.

Pickleball has become an obsession for many people across the country. Participants are seen playing at the indoor Pickleball Club in Sarasota.
Pickleball has become an obsession for many people across the country. Participants are seen playing at the indoor Pickleball Club in Sarasota.

Joseph Giglia plays Larry the ladies man. “He looks in the mirror and sees the Fonz and everyone else sees Ted Baxter from the old ‘Mary Tyler Moore Show.’ His goal in playing pickleball is to find women.”

The actors don’t have to actually play the game on stage. It’s all handled through pantomime. “You hear the thwacks of the ball hitting the paddle, but everything is done in a kind of Keystone Cops frenetic pantomime,” Goodwin said.

Even though the game has taken the country by storm, audience members don’t have to know much about pickleball or the rules to watch the play. Just in case, Goodwin said he has included a primer with key words and phrases to help make it easier for novices.

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Ric Goodwin is directing Jeff Daniels’s play “Pickleball” at Venice Theatre.
Ric Goodwin is directing Jeff Daniels’s play “Pickleball” at Venice Theatre.

Daniels has written about a half dozen plays that got their start at the Purple Rose Theatre Company, which he founded in Michigan in 1991. (The name comes from the Woody Allen film “The Purple Rose of Cairo” in which he starred.) Venice Theatre has previously produced his plays “Escanaba in Da Moonlight” and “Boom Town.”

“I think we’re only the second theater to produce ‘Pickleball’ after Purple Rose did it in 2022,” said Goodwin, who wrote to Daniels about adding an intermission. “He surprised me by emailing me back with a whole new copy that included an intermission in the same spot where I thought we could put one. And he wished us luck with the production and said he was anxious to hear how it played in a senior community like Venice.”

‘Pickleball’

By Jeff Daniels. Directed by Ric Goodwin. Runs Oct. 27-Nov. 19, Venice Theatre’s Pinkerton Theatre, 140 W. Tampa Ave., Venice. Tickets are $35, $22 for college students and $15 for youth. 941-488-1115; venicetheatre.org

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This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Venice Theatre brings Jeff Daniels’ play ‘Pickleball’ to the stage