Tennis stars battle pressures and each other in FST’s ‘The Last Match’
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The stars of the regional premiere of “The Last Match” at Florida Studio Theatre are truly getting into the swing of the game of tennis.
The play by Anna Ziegler explores the pressures placed on professional athletes and their families by focusing on a rising Russian tennis player facing a long-reigning American superstar.
Tom Patterson,who plays the American Tim Porter, and Michael Perrie Jr., who portrays the Russian Sergei Sergeyev, spend part of their rehearsals practicing swings and better understanding the game.
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The production, part of FST’s Stage III series, is presented in the intimate Bowne’s Lab Theatre, so there won’t be any actual volleying. The two actors are working with professional coach GI Hodges and FST acting apprentice Ben Brandt, who has studied tennis, along with Ellie Mooney, who is overseeing the movement in the show.
The two actors don’t have to actually play the game, but they have to look like they know how.
“It’s integral to the story that the drive, the pace of the play, the movement, the energy from the game are all reflective of this world and how it impacts the mind and body,” said director Kate Alexander. “It will be impressionistic as opposed to realistic.”
Perrie, who had the title role in the FST production of “Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story,” said he played a lot of tennis growing up, but gave it up to focus on acting, while Patterson, recently seen in “Babel,” said he “would mess around on the courts as a kid, but nothing seriously.”
Forget what you know and relax
Hodges said he has told them to “forget everything you know about tennis. Listen to what we say, go slow and easy, be relaxed. What I’m working on now is being smooth and fluid, not herky jerky. Roger Federer is such a good example of that because he looks like he glides around the court.”
While the play isn’t meant to depict any particular players, Brandt said it’s easy to see parallels between the aging Tim and the recently retired Federer, while Sergei might be following in the footsteps of fiery players like the Russian Daniil Medvedev or the Australian Nick Kirygios.
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“In the modern game, everybody has the same set of weapons, the big serve, the big forehand. It’s how you employ those weapons that makes it different and mostly it’s mindset or approach,” Brandt said.
Alexander said she has reminded her cast that the play is about champions not victims. “In so many plays we feel sorry for the characters. But we’re watching champions and how they deal with stress. Last week, there was a brilliant article about Tom Brady and how the stresses of his life caused him to step down earlier than he wanted. We talked about how we can learn from champions.”
The cast also includes Patterson‘s “Babel” costars Anique Clements as Tim’s wife, Mallory, a former professional player herself, and Lucy Lavely as Sergei’s devoted girlfriend, Galina.
‘The Last Match’
By Anna Ziegler. Directed by Kate Alexander. Runs Feb. 22-March 17 in Florida Studio Theatre’s Bowne’s Lab Theatre, 1265 First First St., Sarasota. Tickets are $18-$39. 941-366-9000; floridastudiotheatre.org
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This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: FST’s ‘Last Match’ explores pressures on professional tennis players
