Will South Coast take ‘Out’ in?

South Coast Repertory subscribers may wonder if the theater’s long relationship with playwright Richard Greenberg will translate into a Costa Mesa production of his Tony-winning “Take Me Out” any time soon.

Don’t count on it.

Although South Coast introduced its new Argyros Stage last year with the premiere of Greenberg’s “The Violet Hour” -- scheduled to arrive on Broadway next fall -- “Take Me Out” was developed “outside of our relationship,” said South Coast producing artistic director David Emmes.

Not that South Coast is averse to staging the play, he added. Although the company has never presented a play with as much nudity as “Take Me Out,” which includes full-frontal shower scenes in its tale of a gay baseball player, “I don’t think it would keep us from doing the play.”

A more important consideration is that the rights aren’t Greenberg’s. They belong to the play’s Broadway producers, Carole Shorenstein Hays and Frederick DeMann.

Hays, who lives in San Francisco and runs the Best of Broadway series there, is planning a commercial run there next summer. She could not be reached for comment.

-- Don Shirley