OnStage: Tragic Hero

'Everyone has their own Kirby," said director Steve Moulds. That includes playwright Syl Jones. Immediately after hearing of Kirby Puckett's death in 2006, Jones determined he would write a play about the former Minnesota Twins center fielder.

"It was Greek drama," Jones said of Puckett's rise, fall, exile and posthumous redemption. "It had this intersection of sports, race, mythology. I thought it was incredible theater and it would write itself."

Jones wrote it, and "Kirby" has its premiere this weekend at the History Theatre in St. Paul. Moulds directed the show, which stars actor Ansa Akyea and features four other distinguished Twin Cities actors in myriad roles.

Greek literature teems with tragic heroes, and Puckett's story has the broad strokes of legend: an explosive arrival in 1984; white-hot fame during two world championships; his stoic optimism and gratitude when glaucoma cut his career short in 1996; his fall from grace when ugly details of his sexual misconduct and divorce became public, and his death from a stroke at the age of 45, while in exile in Arizona. As in the classics, fate has given Puckett an eternal saga in place of a long life.

"Baseball is a game of failure and forgiveness," Jones writes in the play's opening line. A player can fail to get a hit seven times out of 10 and still retire with a .300 average -- the batter's gold standard. Puckett achieved a .318 mark in his 11-year career, which, with his two World Series rings and fielding prowess, was good enough to put him in the Hall of Fame. More than that, Puckett's effervescence and eagerness to play the game endeared him to fans and created an image of someone who was almost impossibly happy.

"You couldn't help but laugh when you were around Kirby," said WCCO-TV sportscaster Mark Rosen, who covered Puckett's career. "He was the pulse of the whole town."

As Jones notes, though, life is not nearly as generous as baseball.

The hero's burden in private

Jones has written more than 60 plays and is a frequent contributor to the commentary pages of the Star Tribune -- usually on racial topics. He's also a baseball fan who spoke about the special weekend he spent with his son at the 1993 All-Star Game in Baltimore, where Puckett won the MVP award and where the first inductions into the Negro League Hall of Fame were made. For several years, Puckett was the only black regular in the Twins lineup, and Jones believes that singular image created greater expectations. The superstar gladly carried those on the field. In private, "you see the other side of the guy and it makes you wonder," said Jones.

"Kirby was out there in the public eye," said Rosen. "I can't think of another local athlete who had that scope. Kevin Garnett, maybe, but KG always kept his distance, much more private. Kirby commanded attention."

When Jones visited Puckett's plaque at the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y., in August, he said he had a small epiphany. There he was, face-to-face with his hero represented in a bronze cast, with a recitation of his career accomplishments.

"I really felt that there are people who want him to stay there as an icon and don't want to see that, yeah, he had troubles to deal with," he said. "He had issues."

That desire to explore the fullness of Puckett's humanity put Jones at odds with the Minnesota Twins organization. He initially envisioned his play as a multimedia work, laden with film of familiar images and sequences, such as the catch in Game Six of the 1991 World Series, and the home run that beat Atlanta in the same game. Major League Baseball granted the rights, but the Twins denied permission to the play producers. Twins president Dave St. Peter said that, after reading the script, he felt it was not in the team's interests to participate.

"We made a decision based on the tremendous amount of respect we have for Kirby Puckett, for his memory, for his family, for his friends," said St. Peter. "We just felt that some of the creative license that Mr. Jones used created a very fictionalized presentation of Kirby's life, and we felt that our participation would have implied endorsement and we weren't comfortable with that."

St. Peter declined to get into specifics in an interview, though Jones said that in his conversations, it became evident that the team was uncomfortable with the creative process. As with much mythology, "Kirby" uses the facts as a jumping-off point to explore deeper themes. Achilles was a historic, great warrior, but he wasn't really dipped in the River Styx to achieve invulnerability. It only seemed that way.

"It's not a biography of Kirby," said Jones. "It is a work of fiction. But it won't succeed unless it rings true. There's an essence of truth."

Stymied by this roadblock, Jones turned to newspaper libraries for photographs. In Ken Burns style, a videographer created montages that will be projected on a large screen at the back of the stage, an approach that Jones believes makes the piece more theatrical. With actors Terry Bellamy, Michelle Hutchison, Gus Lynch and Shá Cage, Jones said the play could have survived sans imagery.

"But those elements make it compelling," he said. "And remember, there are lots of kids today who never saw him play."

That group includes the man playing the title role.

Playing an icon

Ansa Akyea was born in Switzerland, grew up in several African nations and graduated from high school in Montreal. Soccer and rugby were his games before arriving in the Twin Cities in 2005. Oddly enough, his first acting job was as a ballplayer in Mixed Blood's production of "Take Me Out." He's since worked at Children's Theatre Company and Frank Theatre.

Despite never seeing Puckett play, Akyea said before a recent rehearsal that his job is to "tell this man's story onstage."

Akyea spoke with newspaper reporters who covered Puckett's baseball exploits and his postcareer lapses. He then read the superstar's autobiography and has even tried to contact Tonya Puckett, Kirby's ex-wife, out of respect. He caught some Twins games this past summer, including the 20-year reunion of the 1987 championship team. Both he and Moulds said they felt it was important to soak up the vibe in the Metrodome, which they describe as a distinct character in the play.

As with any actor who takes on a familiar character, Akyea faces the question of whether his portrayal will be judged by how close he mimics the subject. In an interview, he reeled off a few lines demonstrating that he's studied Puckett's verbal rhythms and those unmistakable mantras about, "Going up there, taking my hacks, trying to put it in play." Followed by the big laugh.

Ultimately, Akyea recognizes that the play's success depends on the human drama we never saw.

"We're not going to change his numbers," he said of Puckett's career statistics. "People are curious how someone rose so high in baseball and then fell so low in society. It's a great challenge."

Rosen feels that a great part of the Puckett legend rests in those imponderable "what ifs?"I'd see him at Timberwolves games and I'd think, 'That's Kirby Puckett; he's still a young man,' " said Rosen. "And I wanted to tell him, 'You have a lot more to give to people.' "

Should Puckett have returned to Minnesota? Could fans have forgiven his indiscretions and welcomed him back? Would he have regained his image or reinvented himself? His early departure -- the tragedy of Kirby Puckett -- allows those questions to help form a legend that begs to be told again and again.

Jones says simply, "I just felt all this stuff was rife with drama, and I wanted to bring it to the stage."

So he has.

Graydon Royce • 612-673-7299

HEADLINE: Kirby Agonistes

Graydon Royce • groyce@startribune.com