Outgoing artistic director Donovan Marley never got the credit he deserves for bringing new works to Denver audiences. In 21 seasons with the Denver Center Theatre Company, he mounted 75 world premieres, representing nearly a third of the 243 season offerings.
Kent Thompson hasn’t even started in the job, yet is seen as one of the leading advocates of new works in the American theater. In 15 years at the Alabama Shakespeare Festival, he staged 16 premieres, or about 10 percent of the work done there.
The difference is Thomp-
son also founded the Southern Writers Project, a popular weekend of staged readings anchored by one full world premiere. Thompson will expand the concept here with the hope it might one day rival the Humana Festival of New American Plays in Louisville, Ky.
But how quickly we forget. From 1984-2002, the DCTC was one of the safest havens for new works in the country. TheatreFest brought 200 staged readings to life, 45 of which went on to become fully mounted world premieres. After a year off because of budget cuts, Marley came back with a reincarnated, groundbreaking new-play program called WorkingStages, which has been a far more specific, intensive and useful development tool for new plays than the more prevalent reading festivals.
Regrettably, the regime change means the second and final installment of WorkingStages is taking place largely unnoticed.
WorkingStages workshops two new plays chosen by retiring new-play director Nagle Jackson. This year’s selections are “Garbo in My Eyes,” written by Mark Eisman and directed by Jackson, and “Slabtown,” written by resident actor Steven Cole Hughes and directed by Jamie Horton.
The plays are cast with a mix of veteran DCTC actors and popular locals who have rehearsed for 3 1/2 weeks, just one shy of a fully produced play. Midway through its eight free public performances, each play takes an “R&R” break – for “retooling and restaging.”
The playwright brings in cuts and rewrites based on the first few performances, and the directors offer staging changes. After two days of additional rehearsals, the plays again go up for public performance. “After that,” Jackson said, “it’s in the hands of the gods.”
“Garbo in My Eyes,” starring John Arp and Mare Trevathan (stars of Curious’ “The Goat”), tells the story of a blind man and his guide dog, Garbo, who are run down by a speeding car. The man, legally dead for 95 seconds, recovers with the ability to “see” 95 seconds of his dead dog’s memories. The man’s first experiences with sight is a gift, but what he actually sees becomes a burden.
“Slabtown,” with a powerhouse cast including John Hutton, Keith L. Hatten, Bill Christ, Mike Hartman, Elizabeth Rainer and Josh Robinson, is a witty Old West farce set in a Leadville saloon. The play is slated for its world premiere at the Creede Repertory Theatre opening Sept. 2.
“I envy them,” Jackson said. “They come out of rehearsal rolling with laughter. Steve’s a good writer with a wonderful sense of economy and language. That will be a hoot.”
Thompson’s new-play plan is still coming together, but one thing is certain – it will take place three months earlier each year.
“Kent thinks WorkingStages was a great idea, but it’s at the wrong time of the year,” Jackson said. “Last year, if we had done (David Rambo’s) ‘The Ice-Breaker’ earlier, it definitely would have been on our 2004-05 season, but it came up so late all the slots were filled.”
Jackson hopes Thompson incorporates the advantages of WorkingStages, specifically its workshops and “retooling” break. “The Ice-Breaker” will debut at the Magic Theatre in San Francisco later this year, and Jackson “doubts very much” that would happen had it not been workshopped in Denver last year.
“This is all about the process rather than the product,” he said. “For 3 1/2 weeks, this is about turning a script into a play. So it has to be more than readings. You have to invest in doing actual workshops. That’s the only way you can give the playwright’s work a chance to really be seen.
“We’re able to do these shows without it costing a lot of money; it gives the actors in the company a chance to really play a little bit; and it gives us a chance to bring in new folks, like John and Mare.”
Even though there are more direct flights to Denver than to Louisville and Montgomery, Ala., combined, Jackson predicts Thompson’s biggest challenge will be getting important creative and financial theater folks here to see the work.
“No matter how you do it, it’s really pulling teeth to get people to come to Denver,” Jackson said. “It’s a mind-set Kent has to overcome. I told him that, and he said, ‘Tell me about it – I’ve been in Montgomery.”
Theater critic John Moore can be reached at 303-820-1056 or jmoore@denverpost.com.
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“WorkingStages”
NEW-PLAY PERFORMANCES|
Denver Center Theatre Company|”Garbo in My Eyes,” by Mark Eisman, and “Slabtown,” by Steven Cole Hughes|Directed by Nagle Jackson and Jamie Horton|Denver Performing Arts Complex, 14th and Curtis streets|THROUGH MAY 24|”Garbo,” starring John Arp: 6:30 p.m. Wednesday and 8 p.m. Friday at the Jones Theatre; “Slabtown,” starring John Hutton: 8 p.m. Thursday, Saturday, May 12-14; 6:30 p.m. May 11, 1:30 p.m. Saturday and May 14, at the Ricketson Theatre|FREE (but reservations are required)| 303-893-4100
