Traces

Traces is an off shot of Cirque de Soleil. However, while Cirque de Soleil is smooth and elegant, Traces is rough and raw. It has a working class feel about it.

Also the performance is closer to the audience. Part of that is the DCTC Stage is a smaller venue from the tents and auditoriums in which Soleil performs, but the Traces performers also frequently interacted with the audience; they crossed the foot lights to be with them.

The skills displayed were impressive, and the presentation was warm. This was a good evening.

Superior Donuts

Superior Donuts is an old fashion family donut shop in Chicago. Arthur's parents started it when they can to the US form Poland. Now it has seen better days, and so has Arthur. Starbuck's is taking away his customers with their expensive coffee and food, and his neighbor wants the space to expand his store.

While he is trying to understanding things, he hires a young African American man, Franco Wicks, to help around the shop. He is a good addition to the store as he is enthusiastic about things; he has even written a novel that he wants to get published. However, he has a dark thing in his past: he is a gambler, and he owes a bookie a lot of money. When he is not able to pay the debt, the bookie makes an example of him.

This helps Arthur to come to some conclusions in his life, and he sells the store.

Mike Hartman does a very good job of presenting Arthur with all his conflicts. He is very believable as an ex-hippy or maybe not so ex.

Also Sheldon Best is very good as Franco. He is able to present him as young man who is just starting his life with all the hopes, and foibles.

Over all Superior Donuts was an enjoyable evening in the theatre.

Ruined

Ruined is the story of Mama Nadi and attempts to maintain her business in the middle of the civil war that has been raging in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. She tries to also provide a safe place where she and her employees can live and work, while various groups are brutal campaigns outside of her place.

Mama employees have all experienced the brutality of the soldiers in the various militias. Rape is a common tool of the soldiers, and the women are then rejected by their family and friends; they are ruined. They are forced to turn to prostitution for a living and become employees of Mama. She does prove to have a heart for her employees, and gives the best place to live as she can. In the end though she is not able to straddle the fence between the sides. The only thing that saves her is the fact the war moves on.

Ruined is an intense piece, because you care about the characters, and their ability to survive. It is an piece that lets the audience get a glimpse to what is happening in other parts of the world

The Catch

The Catch, which had its World Premiere at the DCTC, looks at several issues in modern sports. The story revolves around Darryl Love, a baseball star, who is on his way to breaking the record for home runs in a season.

Gary Zipnik is a young man, who has had his share of failure in his life. He lost his .com company, when the bubble burst at t he end of the 90's. In this he also lost his wife and house. He now has come up with a plan, where he will be the one to catch Love's record breaking ball. With a lot of research he his figured out the location where the ball will probably fall.

On the final game of the season, Love hit the record breaking home run. Gary catches the ball, but loses it when jumped by the crowd. Michael Normura came up with the ball. Both men lay claim to the ball; a law suite decision forces the sale of the ball, and the splitting of the income.

On the day of the auction it is revealed that Love may have been involved in a steroid scandal. This causes the ball to sell for a lot less than was hoped. Also at home, Gary reveals that he was the winning bidder; in hopes of driving the price up, he had obtained a loan and made a bid for the ball.

The play was an enjoyable evening. It had a nice combination of humor and drama.

A Midsummer Night's Dream

Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream is one of my favorite plays by the Bard. It is an easy play to follow and enjoy. This performance of it was an enjoyable evening.

There are two stories that are presented in the play. The first is the story of two pairs of young lovers. Hermia is in love with Lysander. However, her father, Egeus, wants her to marry Demetrius. To add to this, another woman, Hellena, is in love with Demetrius.

Lysander and Hermia flee into the forest, and are followed by Demetrius, and Hellena. This brings them into contact with a group of fairies. Oberon, King of the Fairies, decides to play a trick on Demetrius to have him fall in love with Hellena. However, his minion, Puke, mixes up the instructions, and puts the spell on Lysander, who falls in love with Hellena. To fix it, Puke cast a spell on Demetrius, who, also, fells in love with Hellena. This leads to a sever bout of confusion. Oberon, after he is amused, has all the spells reversed.

The second stories involve of a group of craftsmen, who want to entertain the Duke of the city at his wedding. Lead by Quince, Bottom, Flute, Snout, Snug, and Starveling develop a play they present to Duke, his bride, and the two pairs of young lovers. The play they produce is a hilarious mix of mistakes, and over acting.

The actors were all up on their parts. Michael Wartella was a wonder Puke; he presented an athletic, and sometimes over the top performance. Lawrence Hecht is wonderful as Bottom, one of the craftsmen.

Over all a nice performance.

Maps of Heaven

Map of Heaven by Michele Lowe is being premiered by The Denver Center Theatre Company. Lena Gates is a painter, who is preparing for her first showing; she is working with Rebecca Marks on the project. Her husband, Ian, who is a medical doctor, is going through a period of burn-out in his profession. It appears that he has missed placed a woman's mammogram, which delayed her diagnosis and possibly lead to her death.

The woman is Rebecca's sister. The show is canceled, and Lena is forced to rethink her relationship to her husband and the direction of her painting is moving.

The actors' performances were all good. They were able to develop the tension between the characters as it was need need in the plot of the story. It was a very good performance.

Reckless

Reckless by Craig Lucas is a play that is part farce, part social criticism, and part personal memoir. Also it is a seasonal play because the plot advances through a series of Christmases.

The memoir is that Craig's life influences parts of the story. He interjects his life into the story of the children that the lead character, Rachel.

The farce is the personality of Rachel. She is a hyperactive bubbly personality that hits life at full speed. Just trying to keep up with is funny. The play starts with her husband telling her that he had taken a contract on her life forcing her to flee into the winter night.

Finally, the social criticism is of the television staples: Game shows and Talk shows. They both are presented as being superficial and exploitative. Also NGO's (Non-governmental Organizations) are presented as money hungry groups, that really have no idea of their financial situation.

The play was a fairly nice evening. The actors all were good in their parts. However, the play itself was unfocused. If it had take on only one or two of the threads in the plot, it would have been better.

House of the Spirits

This is a hard play to write about. I saw the play over a month ago, but I now just getting to the review of the play. The House of the Spirits is a play based on a novel by Isabel Allende, a second cousin of Salvador Allende Gossens, the socialist leader of Chile in the 1970's.

The story follows the Trueba family in an unnamed Latin America country (probably Chile) from the 1920's through the 1970's though the memories of Alba. The family started out poor, but were able to acquire some land, which moves them into the upper class.

Esteban, the patriarch of the family, develops into an ultra-conservative land owner, who supports the status quo, and abuses the peasants around him. He is a sexual predator to many of the women.

The son of Esteban's overseer, on the other hand, is working for socialism. He challenges the way things are in the country.

Then the military comes to power with its brutal power. Not only do they destroy the opposition through murder and rape, but they also push aside the old order. Things have changed.

The problem I have with the play is not the play itself, but with the way one actor presents his character. John Hutton played Esteban. He did not develop the character into the predator he was. For that a good play was only a fair event.

Dracula

Dracula at the Denver Center Theater Company is a fairly good presentation of Bram Stoker's Story. It follows the plot of the original story well, but a lot of the suspense of the story has been lost in the telling. A lot of effort was given to the special effects, such as flashes, blood squids, etc. However, the suspense that should be a part of the play was minimal.

Over all the actors were good in their parts. Anthony Marble was good as Count Dracula, but he needed to be more menacing.

Over all it was a fairly good evening, but it could have been far more of a scare.

The 39 Steps

The 39 Steps is based on a book by John Buchan, which was turned into a movie by Alfred Hitchcock. The movie is considered Hitchcock's masterpieces, full of suspense and action. So when Patrick Barlow started to adapt the movie to the stage, he needed to figure out the style the play would take, and he choose farce as the best way to translate the movie.

The story of The 39 Steps follows Richard Hannay, a 37 year old (-ish) Englishman, who had a murder in his London apartment. He fled to Scotland trying to track down a clue left by the victim before she died. There he finds himself in a German spy ring trying to get some important information out of England.

The presentation of the play is an wonderful combination of live action and black and white film clips. Also the four actors played 50 different parts, which adds to the action.

Sam Gregory is very good as Richard Hannay. He plays the suave, urban, 37 (-ish) Englishman with wonderful reserve; he is the straight man, and lets the other actors do their parts to the fullest.

Victoria Mack plays the three major female parts. She handles the three major female characters well.

The two last actors played all the rest of the characters. Larry Paulsen, with his rubber face, and Rob Nagle are hilarious as the two clown with their frequent character changes---many on stage. This is where the play gets its action.

The play at 1:45 was short, but it very funny. There were the required references to other Hitchcock movies sprinkled through out the play. It was a fun evening.

Mariela in the Desert

Mariela in the Desert is a wonderful play.

Jose Salvatierre is dying. He has diabetes, and the doctors have given him only a few weeks to live. His wife, Mariela has sent a telegram to their daughter, Blanca, to try to get the young women to return home before he is dead.

Jose and Mariela were Mexican painters. They were friends of the other famous painters of the Mexican Renaissance: Kahlo, Rivera, Orozco, Siqueiros, and Tamayo. They worked and partied with these people. Jose wanted to start an artist commune in the desert; he moved his family to the desert, but the others had not followed. Mariela gave up her painting to take care of the family. While Blanca was bright and talented, her brother, Carlos, was developmentally disable; he frequently had emotional episodes that required all of Mariela's time and attention.

Blanca returns home with Alan, who is older than her. He is a art history professor, who is doing a book about the painters. He wants to do a chapter about Jose.

Jose career has had one high point; one of his pictures had been chosen the bast painting in a exhibition of the painters. The problem was the painting that won the prize was not his painting. When he had failed in producing the required number of paintings for the contest, Mariela painted the last one, and it was the winner. When he returned to the desert, he was depressed, and expressed his mood by burning down his studio. However, Carlos had been hiding in the studio, and was killed in the fire.

This is the situation Alan discovers. The prized painting is in the house shrouded by a heavy dark cloth. Jose in his decline has defaced it, but it is still a presents.

Yetta Gottesman is a strong presents as Mariela. She does not over do the part. Vivia Fant as Blanca is spunky presents, showing the strength of Mariela, while rejecting the situation that has entrapped her.

Again it is wonderful play.

Mama Hated Diesels

The Denver Center Theater Company frequently primers musicals, which are not traditional dramatic musicals. They are pieces that are developed around an idea or a group, and feature the music associated with it. One musical that recently came to mind with the Massey coal mine explosion was Fire on the Mountain about West Virginia coal miners and their families.

Mama Hated Diesels is in that genre. It is about long haul truck drivers. Through the stories told by the actors the experiences and problems of long haul drivers are presented. Such pressure as families,drugs, lifestyles,and company practices are all presented. These are presented with pieces of country western music.

I loved this small piece. I have some small contact with drivers through my job, and this play has captured many of their stories. It might be a little sentimental, but many of the issues presented are real to these men and women.

Also the music was very good. I must admit that I am a fan of jazz and classical music, but I have a spot in my heart for country western music. Jazz and classical music are musics of the mind, while good country western music is of the heart. The music here hits the heart strongly.

Finally, included with the music and stories were a collection of wonderful photographs. Many of them are of roads in lonely place; the high plains were well represented. I grew upon the high plains,and love their solitude. I loved the photographs.

This was a wonderful piece about a group of people who are disappearing. Nice evening.

Othello

I have a problem with Shakespeare. It is that while I love the stories of the plays, but I do not really care for the language which is used in the plays. I think the language is beautiful, but it interferes with the audience understanding of the story.

With that said, Othello is about relationships between races. This idea maybe more of an issue in the current age than it was in Shakespeare's time.

Othello is a Moor, who is a general in the Army of Venice. He has secretly married Dedemona, a daughter of a Venetian Senator. He has a strong enemy is the person of Iago, who has been passed over for promotion.

This performance was particularly good. Othello was played by Robert Jason Jackson. He brought a strong, but controlled dignity to the character. He did not over play the character.

Iago was played by John Hutton. In the past I have frequently not been a fan of John's depiction of various villainous characters. However, his performance here was believable. He brought an understated evil to the character that added force character.

Over all this was one of the better Shakespeare performances I have attended at the DCTC.

When Tang Met Laika

Laika was a little dog the Soviets sent into space in Sputnik 2 November 1957; she was the first living thing in space from Earth. Tang was the American orange flavored powder that Astronauts drank in space.

The play follows the development of American-Soviet (Russian) relationships through their cooperation in space. It follows three people: Patrick, the first American Astronaut to visit Mir, Elena, a Cosmonaut on Mir, and Samantha, Patrick's wife. Patrick and Elena relationship grows from this, which also destroys Patrick's and Samantha's marriage.

Patrick is on the Space Station as nears completion, and the Columbia disintegration happened, which strands him on the Station. As a result his marriage to Samantha comes to an end and his relationship with Elena develops. Samantha is not able to understand what draws Patrick to space flight as well as Elena.

The play also examines the relationship of the two counties during this time. Two of the characters of the play are Young Communist (retired) and Young Capitalist (retired). They are trying to live with each other in a retirement community. They find that they do not like each other very much, but they need each other; one would be nothing without the other there.

This play is very different for last weeks Eventide. The progress of the story is not as important as the issues that are being examined. The relationship of the two countries, and the meaning of space exploration are more important than what the characters are doing.

The actors are good. Several of them had to play multiple characters, and did so well.

Eventide

Eventide is a continuation of Plainsong, a play the DCTC presented a few years ago. Both plays are adaptions of the stories of Kent Haruf about Holt County on the Great Plains of Colorado.

The play is composed of the three stories. The first being the continuation of the story of the McPheron brothers, Harold and Raymond. They are bachelor ranchers, who take in Victoria, a young unwed mother. Victoria has grown up and is off to college with her young daughter. However, Harold is killed in a ranching accident leaving Raymond alone. Victoria comes back from college to help out, but she has grown while away at school; she has met a young man, Del, who proves himself in Raymond eyes. Raymond insist that she return to school with her young man.

Out of this Raymond starts to date for the first time in his life. After a false start, friends help him meet Rose Tyler, a social worker, and their relationship starts to bloom.

A second story is of DJ and Walter Kephart. DJ is 11 year old boy, whose only living family is his grandfather. The grandfather's only real pleasure anymore is his monthly night out at the local tavern, when his monthly check arrives. After a particularly bad incident at the tavern, DJ meets up with Raymond, who hires him to help on the ranch on the weekends.

The last story is of the Wallace family. The parents, Luther and Betty Jean, are mental challenged, and they are very depended on their social worker, Rose. They love their children, but are unable to protect them when Betty Jean's uncle moves into their home and physically abuses them. They lose their children to a foster home.

These are people I know. I grew up in a similar town in Montana. Their values are basic American values. Raymond accepted Del, because he was willing to try to help, while totally forgiving his inexperience. Also Walter insists that DJ understand that he needs to earn any money Raymond gives him.

The acting was very even, and well done. Phillips Pleasant and Mike Hartman as the McPheron Brothers were particularly outstanding. They both had a wonderful sparkle in their eyes.

Over all the play is a wonderful bittersweet look at life on the American Great Plains. The outcome to the situations are not always satisfactory, in fact they are not always finished. It was a good experience.

Christmas Carol

A Christmas Carol is another of my seasonal traditions. I have several movie version plus an audio reading of the book, which I need to enjoy each year. However, I also need to attend the Denver Center's presentation of the play.

The first time I saw this play, the company was the Bonfil's Company, and their theater was on Colfax. The company has become the Denver Center Theater Company, and moved into their current space many years ago. (The Tattered Cover Bookstore moved into their original space a couple of years ago after it was vacant for years.)

This is the second staging the play has had since I have been attending. The first staging was interesting as the set was slowly removed piece by piece as the play progressed; at the end only the scaffolding remained. Now there is a more traditional set with backdrops for the various settings, such as Scrooge's office, street scenes, etc.

The original staging was a lot darker too. Scrooge was unrepentant up until the cemetery scene with the Ghost of Christmas Future. Now Scrooge seems to moving to a life change even with the Ghost of Christmas Past; he does not need to be slapped around by the Ghost of the Christmas Future to become the good man.

Needless to say, this staging is not as dramatic. Scrooge seems to be moving to his changes, and his actions on Christmas morning are not a surprise. While it is still a nice presentation of a wonderful story, it is just nice.

Well

Well is a play about healing. Lisa Kron, the author and main character, looks at the illness and cures in her life. Her mother has a life long chronic illness, which never gets better. When Lisa was young, her mother was an activist in the neighborhood. She was able to help the neighborhood deal with its mixed ethnic status.

Lisa also had her own health problem. She had some sever food allergies. She was able to identify the risks with a hospital stay,and is now well.

Lisa's problem with her mother is that her mother is not able to cure herself. Lisa was able to cure her allergies and her mother was able to cure the neighborhood, but she was not able to make any progress on her own problem.

The style of the play was unusual. The characters where able to step out of character, and respond to the situations in the play.

Kate Levy as Lisa and Kathleen Brady as her mother were both very good in the parts. There was an ensemble of four actors, who also were very good in their parts.

Absurd Person Singular

Absurd Person Singular is a play by Alan Ayckbourn. Acybourn has been compared to America's Neil Simon. The big difference between the two playwrights is that Ayckbourn writes about the dark side of life. His characters are unknowingly cruel to each other. However, his plays are easily as funny as Simon's.

Absurd Person Singular features three couples: the Hopcrofts, the Brewster-Wrights, and the Jacksons. Each of the three acts of the play is a Christmas Eve gathering at one of the couple's home over three years.

Act 1 is in the Hopcroft home. He is an up and coming tradesmen and she is a compulsive home cleaner. He trying so hard to impress the other people that he does not notice what his wife is going through to keep him happy including going out in a heavy rain storm to get tonic water for their guests.

Act 2 is in the Jacksons' home. He is an architect. but is a philanderer. He is about to leave his wife for another woman---maybe. He wants to move in with the other woman, but still be able to have times with his wife. She is in a sever depression. Her house is in a mess and she is planning to commit suicide. The action revolves around the other couples trying to help fix up the Jacksons' home and stop her from suicide.

Act 3 is in the Brewster-Wrights' home. His is a banker and she is a snob. She is also a boozer. The Jackson's are there: she has recovered some and he is now in trouble, because one of his buildings has collapsed. The Hopcrofts are doing very well. While the others try to avoid them, in the end they are the life of the party.

The play was very funny experience. All the actors were able to hold their parts well

A Raisin in the Sun

The Setting of A Raisin in the Sun is 1950's Chicago. The patriarch of the Younger family has recently died, and the family is about to receive a check from the insurance company for $10,000. Each member of the family starts to make plans for the money. Ruth, the matriarch, wants a house for the family so her grandson can have a room of his own and maybe have a little dirt to grow something. Her daughter would like to use the money to attend medical school, and her son would like to use the money to buy a liquor store with his friends.

When the money arrives, Ruth decides the money needs to be divided with about a third going to each use. She puts the down payment on a house in one of the suburbs, and gives the rest of the money to her son to manage.

The first problem that develops is that the house proves to be in an all white suburb, and Karl Lindner arrives at the family apartment to buy them out of their home purchase. He clearly indicates that they are not welcome in their neighborhood, but the residences would like to buy their home a profit.

The second problem is the son gives all the money that was entrusted to him to his friends to facilitate their store, but the friend with the money disappears, and the money is gone with him. There is nothing for the store or his sister's education.

The family continues with its move to the new home.

In its day this play was a statement of the black situation. Now it is picture of the way things were in the 1950's. While some things have improved, the past must be remembered.

Only two of the actors were regulars with the Denver Center Theater Company. All the actors were very good in their parts, and it was a wonderful evening.

The Voysey Inheritance

Pyramid schemes have been around for a long time. Harley Grainville-Barker wrote The Voysey Inheritance in 1905, which involved a Pyramid scheme.

Mr. Voysey was the solicitor, who was the head of a trust and estate law firm. He was bring his son, Edward, into the firm. The young man was surprised by the state of the firm. A lot of the money that had been been invested into the firm was not where it should be. Mr. Voysey explained that he was moving the money around from account to account so no one was loosing any money. He was also taking money from the accounts for the family. He assures Edward that everything was fine.

However, Mr Voysey suddenly died. Edward was then the head of the firm and family. He wanted to come clean about the state of the firm. The family was split about the proper course: one group of the family were breaking away from the family and were not concerned about the money, while the other part was afraid that they loose their lifestyle. Edward decided that he has to try to fix matter. There were too many small accounts that would be hurt, if he does not try.

As time goes along, Edward was able to fund the smaller accounts. At this time, though, George Booth, the firms largest investor, discovers the state of the firm, and the reason for it. He will not take matters to the authorities, if Edward gives him his money immediately. This would mean that Edward would have to take the money from the other smaller accounts to accomplish. How is Edward going to save the firm or more importantly the money of the other accounts in the firm?

It is interesting that this play sounds so current. The costumes are Edwardian, but the situations and attitudes are modern. Somethings are timeless.

Sam Gregory was able to carry the play as Edward. John Hutton as Edward's brother, Major Booth Voysey, was not blustery enough for a retired British major. the rest of the cast carried their parts well. The performance was an enjoyable evening.