Political theater can be groundbreaking, dangerous . . . and a big bore, if you don’t do it right.
Isabelle Allende’s “The House of the Spirits” certainly made for a good political novel. Her fictionalized 1982 best seller is based on 40 years of brutal Chilean history that culminated with the assassination of her uncle, Salvador Allende, a democratically elected president who was overthrown in a 1973 coup by the Pinochet regime.
But what makes it good political theater is that Allende made the story personal, playwright Caridad Svich says. The novel is framed by a girl writing a letter to her grandfather as she tries to come to grips with her family’s violent past, which is then told to us through the lens of four generations of its women.
On Thursday, the Denver Center Theatre Company opens the first major English-language staging of “The House of the Spirits,” one Svich says is not only true to Allende’s feminist family narrative and the political landscape that bore it, but also takes full advantage of live theater’s unique storytelling opportunities. Here that means engaging in magical realism, puppetry and live video feeds.
“The source material is absolutely political,” said Svich. “The novel is threaded throughout with the entire landscape of what was happening in Chile from the 1920s through the 1970s.”
That’s why it’s critical, added director Jose Zayas, that this family story begin from a place of political torture.
Alba, granddaughter to harsh family patriarch Esteban Trueba, has been taken by rebel soldiers. With shades of Abu Ghraib, a soldier films Alba being abused. His live feed is projected on top of Alba as it is happening, using a bit of a time delay. It not only establishes a sense of layering and fragmentation, Zayas said, it’s a way of playing with time on the stage the way Allende plays with time on the page. “It shows us a bit of the past, present and future all happening at once,” he said.
It’s those kinds of unique staging concepts that make Svich’s play no mere stage adaptation but rather “a theatrical response to the novel.” And while it’s true to Allende’s “enormously expansive, beautiful, grotesque and violent vision,” she said, condensing 600 pages into two-plus hours of live theater makes it, inevitably, Svich’s singular interpretation of it.
“Anybody can read the novel at any time and in any language,” Svich said. “But this is our take on this story. It’s not reading the novel on stage — it’s a theatrical experience.”
One Svich says is unmistakably influenced by George W. Bush, who was president when she began writing; the Abu Ghraib scandal was in full bloom. She is not shy about her politics.
“I was absolutely thinking about the Bush administration when I was writing this play, so that’s inevitably in the air,” she said. “He’s a figure from that same kind of lineage as Esteban in terms of greed and power and denial, so that was certainly an available model for me. But there are still a lot of Estebans running around.”
Esteban is a poor miner who rises to rich baron to political insurrectionist. He rapes peasant women, beats his wife and whips his daughter.
“This play deals with status and violence and abuse of power, and that is something that unfortunately never grows out of date,” Svich said. “People are still torturing people on many sides of the globe, and there is still rendition and scheming and people who have nothing — while other people are making tons of money with no care for their civic responsibility to the community and the rest of the planet.”
Svich says the story allows for either an empathetic or a political response to the play. But theater affords the possibility for it to succeed on the stage in a way that, she says bluntly, failed on the screen. She describes the 1993 all-star film with Jeremy Irons, Meryl Streep and Glenn Close as “awful.”
Zayas believes the movie didn’t work because film is such a literal form. “And there is something about the imagery of this story that if you do it too literally — it gets a little goofy,” he said. “But in theater you can use words to propel you into this other world. We are trying to thrust the audience into a journey and we don’t ever give them the rules. They figure the rules out as it is happening.”
That Svich and Zayas are are getting the chance to bring the story to the stage at all is something of a miracle in today’s theater economy. Svich’s first version, written in Spanish, was performed on a postage stamp of a stage (it was commissioned by Repertorio Espanol/Spanish Repertory in New York).
At the Denver Center’s Space Theatre, in English, she and Zayas have had access to the full creative resources of a major regional theater company.
“I love the idea of having a big canvas, and it is rare to be afforded that luxury,” Svich said. “Because of the way things are economically in the United States right now, in terms of putting on plays, you are constantly trying to think smaller — and yet at the same time you want to create mythic and epic stories. That’s been the challenge for a long time.
“But the fact that I could kind of blow it up here in Denver was exciting. It allowed me to engage with a lot of theatrical traditions that I love.”
Like puppets and live video.
“Working with video projection design has long been a part of my theatrical vocabulary as a dramatist, and I felt one of the ways of creating the spectral world of this story would be through a visual landscape that comes from a theatrical place that doesn’t duplicate what the novel does, but rather does something that only theater can do. It’s exciting. I just love rolling around in the hay.”
But even with all those tricks and tools at her disposal, she said, “I think at the end of the day, you are going to see a play about a family that’s really screwed up, and a play about a country that is trying to heal itself from a legacy of violence.
“It’s certainly a roller-coaster ride of a novel — and I hope it’s a roller-coaster ride of a play.”
John Moore: 303-954-1056 or jmoore@denverpost.com
“The House of the Spirits”
Family drama. Presented by the Denver Center Theatre Company at the Space Theatre, Denver Performing Arts Complex, 14th and Curtis streets. Adapted from the Isabel Allende novel by Caridad Svich. Starring John Hutton, Meaghan Wolf and Franca Sofia Barchiesi. Through Oct. 23. 6:30 p.m. Mondays-Thursdays; 7:30 p.m. Fridays; 1:30 and 7:30 p.m. Saturdays. $18-$57. 303-893-4100 (800-641-1222 outside Denver), or
This weekend’s best bet: “Happy Days, A New Musical”
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Forget Beckett. This “Happy Days” is a new musical based on the hit TV series that brings back Richie, Potsie, Ralph Malph and Arthur “The Fonz” Fonzarelli. Return to 1959 Milwaukee, where the beloved Arnold’s drive-in malt shop is in danger of demolition. The gang teams up to save their favorite hangout with a dance contest and a wrestling match. This family-friendly musical launches a new collaboration between Stapleton MCA and the Aurora Fox Theatre to bring free theater to the community in an outdoor setting. Yep — free. Saturday, Sept. 18, through Sept. 26. At Founder’s Green, East 29th Avenue and Quebec Street. 303-739-1970 or
This weekend’s other theater openings
“The 39 Steps” Quirky British send-up of Alfred Hitchcock’s 1935 spy thriller, with four actors playing more than 50 roles. Through Nov. 14. Presented by the Denver Center Theatre Company at the Ricketson Theatre, Denver Performing Arts Complex, 14th and Curtis streets, 303-893-4100 or And here’s
“Cherry Docs” A neo-Nazi skinhead is charged with murder, and Legal Aid has assigned him a Jewish lawyer who is forced to examine the limits of his own liberalism. Through Oct. 24. 401 Pine St., Fort Collins, 970-498-8949 or
“I Am Nikola Tesla” Murray Ross’ original play is set in contemporary Colorado Springs, where a lonely and obsessed Nikola Tesla aficionado attempts to re-create the magnifying transmitter Tesla invented there in 1899. Through Oct. 3. Presented by TheatreWorks at Bon Vivant Theater, 3955 Cragwood Drive, Colorado Springs, 719-255-3232 or
“The Love List” The recent Town Hall Arts Center production moves to the Avenue Theater. An adult comedy about two middle-age friends who create a list of the things they want in the perfect woman. But what happens when she materializes? Through Oct. 30. 417 E. 17th Ave., 303-321-5925 or
“Rent” A musical about love, friendship and community in AIDS-era New York City. Mature subject and themes. Not recommended for under 13. Through Oct. 17. Town Hall Arts Center, 2450 W. Main St., Littleton, 303-794-2787 or
“The Second City’s 50th Anniversary”Chicago’s storied comedy troupe returns to Denver with a new show featuring songs and sketches written by famous alumni such as Tina Fey, Steve Carell and Stephen Colbert. Through Oct. 10. Presented by Denver Center Attractions at the Galleria Theatre, Denver Performing Arts Complex, 14th and Curtis streets, 303-893-4100 or . And here’s
“Sunset Boulevard” ***1/2 Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical, based on the 1950 film of the same title, about silent-film star relic Norma Desmond, whose encounter with a disillusioned screenwriter provides a possible opportunity for a comeback. Through Oct. 10. Arvada Center, 6901 Wadsworth Blvd., 720-898-7200 or And here’s
“Tap Dogs” National touring production of the Australian dance sensation. Described as “a rough, tough, rocking theatrical entertainment.” Created by Olivier Award-winning choreographer Dein Perry, with a construction site set by designer/director Nigel Triffitt and a driving score by composer Andrew Wilkie. Opens Tuesday, Sept. 21, through Sept. 26. At the Buell Theatre, Denver Performing Arts Complex, 14th and Curtis streets, 303-893-4100 or . Here’s
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
This week’s video podcast
John Moore takes you to the Coors Field infield, where PHAMALy actor Regan Linton was given the 2010 Hal O’Leary Inspiration Award from the Colorado Rockies’ Charities. Filmed Sept. 1. Run time: 8 minutes.
The Running Lines blog
Catch up on John Moore’s roundup of theater news and dialogue:
