A state patrolman woke Terry Dodd with a pounding on his door at 5 o’clock on the morning of a 1974 Boulder blizzard.
This state patrolman happened to be his father. Dodd was sure his mother must have died.
Instead, there was something patrolman Dale Dodd just had to know. And there was something he needed his son to know, as well.
More than 30 years later, this charged confrontation between father and son, both harboring secrets, is the basis for Dodd’s “Home by Dark,” a new play opening Saturday in its world premiere at Curious Theatre.
It’s directed by former Denver Center Theatre Company stalwart Jamie Horton, now a professor at Dartmouth College, and personally co-produced by Randy Weeks, president of the Denver Center for the Performing Arts.
Dale Dodd was hoping against hope to find his son, then a junior at the University of Colorado in Boulder, at home with a presumed girlfriend, Claudia. But Claudia was just a friend — who was a girl. Dale Dodd had suspected his son might be gay, but a crisis of his own was fueling his need to know the truth. Now.
Terry Dodd said his play was 35 years in the making. But to get it done, “It took me getting past my dad’s age,” he said of Dale, who died at 52 of liver cancer.
Dodd has moved “Home By Dark” from the more sexually liberated 1970s to 1986, when the AIDS crisis was exploding and irrational fear of homosexuals was rampant.
“It certainly ups the tension and the dramatic stakes,” said Dodd. But while AIDS is the historical and personal backdrop of the story, “the core of this play lies in the relationship between this particular father, and this particular son,” said Horton, himself the father of a college-age son and a 24-year-old daughter.
Though their situations are completely different, Horton has learned much about being a father by directing this play, starring Michael McNeill as Dale and Jake Walker as “Mark.”
“I relate to the play as a father having to deal with things that are incredibly important to one’s offspring, and the challenge of communicating between generations about those things,” he said.
Dodd says it’s rare to see plays centering on father-son relationships, citing only “All My Sons.”
“That’s because men only talk when they are cornered,” Dodd said, “and my dad was cornered.”
All of which makes “Home By Dark” much more than the story of a son coming out to his father — though it does have particular resonance within the gay community. Two years ago, an early draft of Dodd’s play was read at the national Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays convention in Washington.
“And it went through the roof,” Dodd said.
The director of the New York PFLAG chapter told Dodd, “I don’t think you know the tiger by the tail you’ve got. This is a story that’s just waiting to be told.”
Still, Horton thinks of “Home By Dark” as much more than a “gay play.”
“I think any parent who has struggled to understand a son or daughter will relate, and vice versa,” he said. “That’s what makes the piece universal.”
But what makes it so interesting to him is that while the son needs his father to know the real him, the father has an equal set of needs.
“His suspicions about his son, and his son’s well-being, are both of enormous concern for him,” Horton said. “But the mind-set of any state patrolman is to find out and confirm. Add to all that, he has a secret of his own, and this particular father and son have a lot a ground to cover on one snowy night.
“Their assumptions about each other, and about their relationship, are challenged so thoroughly.”
Dodd has written many plays that have been produced nationally, and his real family life has inspired them. “It’s the well I go to,” he said. “It’s like Eugene O’Neill said, ‘You write plays to tell your parents you’re sorry.’ ”
Horton believes there is a timelessness to “Home By Dark,” whether it were set in 1974, 1986 or 2010.
“We have evolved with regard to some of these issues, but probably not as much as we’d like to think,” he said. “The question is whether true understanding is really possible — or do we just have to accept, with love, and go on from there?”
John Moore: jmoore@denverpost.com or 303-954-1056
“Home by Dark”
Drama. Curious Theatre Company, 1080 Acoma St. Written by Terry Dodd. Directed by Jamie Horton. Starring Michael McNeill and Jake Walker. Through Feb. 13. 8 p.m. Thursdays-Saturdays, 2 p.m. Sundays. $18-$42. 303-623-0524 or
Q&A: Grizabella of “Cats”
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Anastasia Lange comes from a long and distinguished litter-line of pretty kitties to play Grizabella in “Cats,” the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical with apparently 999 lives. We asked Lange about the longevity of the production, which visits Denver (again!) Wednesday through Jan. 17 at the Buell Theatre. Yes, “Cats” is one of the most popular musicals in the history of the world but, we asked Lange, . . . it’s got dense T.S. Eliot poetry, no spoken words, not much of a plot and no human presence. Why in the world did it ever work on stage in the first place? One word, she said: “Spandex.” Read our full Q&A “Cats” plays Jan. 13-17 at the Buell Theatre in the Denver Performing Arts Complex. Based on T.S. Eliot’s “Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats,” with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber. Directed by Trevor Nunn. 2 and 8 p.m. Jan. 13, 8 p.m. Jan. 14-15; 2 and 8 p.m. Jan. 16, 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Jan. 17. $15-$100, 303-893-4100 (800-641-1222 outside Denver), at all King Soopers or
This weekend’s other theater openings
“Annie” Musical about the Depression-era orphan who solves all of America’s problems with that hopeful smile and bright red hair. Through Feb. 14. Carousel Dinner Theatre, 3509 S. Mason St., Fort Collins, 970-225-2555 or
“The Glass Menagerie” In Tennessee Williams’ disturbing classic, Tom Wingfield recounts his haunted life with his timid, sickly sister and their domineering mother. Through Jan. 30. OpenStage, 417 W. Magnolia St., Fort Collins, 970-221-6730 or
“My Fair Lady” Musical about the Cockney flower girl who takes speech lessons from a professor so she can pass as a lady. Through Feb 14. E-Project, 9797 W. Colfax Ave., Lakewood, 303-232-0363 or
“The Odd Couple” Neil Simon’s classic comedy about two divorced men who could not be more different sharing an apartment. Through Jan. 16. Curtain’s Up, 3900 W. 32nd Ave., 720-308-2920 or
“A Picasso” The Miners Alley Playhouse brings its 2009 award- winner to the Mercury Cafe for a short revival, Fridays only throughout January. Chris Kendall and Paige Lynn Larson again star as the famous artist who is confronted in 1941 Paris by a “cultural attache” from the German secret police. Through Jan. 29. 2199 California St., 303-935-3044 or
“Senior Moments” Five short, slightly raunchy playlets performed by veteran stage couple Timothy Englert and Ellen Ranson. Through Sunday. Theatre Company of Lafayette, 300 E. Simpson St., 720-209-2154 or
“Sylvia”A stray mutt comes between a restless middle-aged man and his uptight wife. Through Jan. 31. Town Hall Arts Center, 2450 W. Main St., Littleton, 303-794-2787 or
“Too Sexy for the Stock Show” A western-themed burlesque variety show that plays Thursdays only throughout January, changing each week. Through Jan. 28. Black Box Burlesque at Bender’s Tavern, 314 E. 13th St., 720-308-5091 or
“Voices in the Dark” In this thriller by John Pielmeir (“Agnes of God”), a celebrated talk-show host is vacationing with her husband in a remote cabin in the Adirondacks. Only her husband doesn’t show up — an unwanted guest does. Through Feb. 20. Victorian Playhouse, 4201 Hooker St., 303-433-4343 or
Complete theater listings
Go to our complete list of in Colorado, including summaries, run dates, addresses, phones and links to every company’s home page. Or check out our listings or
The Running Lines blog
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