‘Foursome’ gets a lot right about golf, guys

The golf comedy “The Foursome” may have some people feeling the way they do about the game itself: Sure, it’s fun for a few holes, but aren’t 18 a few too many?

However, as a semi-avid golfer myself, it mirrored the way I feel about the game: Sure, it can be frustrating at times, but, except for a few holes best left forgotten, an awful lot of fun.

The script, by Canadian actor and playwright Norm Foster, is structured just like a golf game. Four old college buddies gather on the No. 1 tee, where they banter with each other, tell jokes, and haze each other unmercifully. Then they hit their imaginary drives and walk off stage, only to walk right back on stage to what is now called the No. 2 tee. This formula is repeated without variation, 17 more times.

The four pals are recognizable middle-age “types.” There’s Cameron (Mike Hynes), the worrywart who simultaneously frets about rain and the dangers of UV rays. There’s Ted (Brad Picard), the problem drinker who has killed off five beers by 9:30 a.m. There’s Donnie (Jerry Uppinghouse), the doting father and family man. Finally, there’s Rick (Dave Rideout), the wheeler-dealer and fast operator with the ladies, who likes nothing better than to stick the needle into his companions under the guise of “just kidding around.”

Mainly because of Rick, Foster’s script sometimes descends perilously close to standard sitcom insult humor. For instance, when one guy says he would like to meet Ted’s much-younger wife, Rick advises him to just hang around the “school playground at recess.”

There are also a few moments of emotional revelation, male-bonding style. The most contrived of these comes when Cameron demands that his three buddies tell him whether they slept with his wife during college. I won’t give away the replies, except to repeat an old adage: If you can’t handle the answer, don’t ask the question.

However, Foster, with help from director Melody Deatherage and her winning four-man cast, gets a lot of things right. All of those “emotional revelations” are given added comic spice from the fact that we never know for sure which, if any, of them is true. These guys are playing a match for money. Sometimes, they make up outrageous lies out of sheer gamesmanship.

This play also accurately captures the essence of guys-being-guys. They show their affection and their aggression in exactly the same way: By kidding each other unmercifully and showing an emotional stoicism. When Cameron tells the group that he is having chest pains and might be having a heart attack, Rick responds by saying, “Get your short-of-breath ass up there and hit the ball.”

“The Foursome” is an ensemble vehicle, with all four actors making the most of their comic moments. Rideout, however, stands out, partly because his character is the engine that moves the play along, and partly because Rideout so smoothly and accurately captures the Rick type. Rick is cocky and insufferable, yet essentially insecure. That’s why he needs to win at everything, even a friendly golf match: to prove to himself he’s not a loser.

Set designer Peter Hardie has converted the intimate Studio Theatre space into a miniature links, with a lush painted backdrop and a floor with fairways and cart paths. It’s a tiny space to fit an 18-hole course, but somehow, I bought it.

In fact, I’ve been in that foursome.