Taking in “Dangerous Liaisons” feels a bit like a dangerous liaison in itself. This debut staging by the new Spark Theater takes audiences out of their comfort zone by annihilating all distance between them and the famously cruel tale that plays out practically in their laps.
You enter the unfamiliar environs of the old Imperial office building and climb a daunting incline of stairs leading to a tiny room above the Bardo Coffee House.
Your first response: This is no theater. It’s an empty room save for two rows of chairs, enough for 30 people. There’s no stage, just a rug on the floor before us. There are no stage lights; just four chandeliers operated by the dimmer-switch on the wall. There’s no proper exit; just a back door that actors and crew squeeze through between scenes.
But if, as they say, all it takes to make a play is actors, an audience and a place to tell a story, the new SparkStudio is a theater like any other. Even if it all feels precarious and ephemeral, like you could switch off that dimmer after the show and it might seem like it never even happened.
This a different kind of theatergoing experience, one that might be jarring for those who find safety in the invisible wall that traditionally separates actors from audiences. Here, you have to scoot your feet in to avoid the tripping actors as they pass. The modest might cast their eyes away as the suave Vicomte Valmont takes a virgin in a manner that blurs the line between seduction and rape.
This isn’t an easy play for anyone to feel fully at ease at — performers or patrons. But in this era of IMAX screens and high-definition TV, it’s a thrill to experience live theater that’s close enough to touch.
Even if what you really want to do is reach out and slap these creeps.
The urge to prey on the emotional vulnerability of mere mortals has been around as long as the Greeks. But Pierre Choderlos de Laclos’ 1782 source novel has shown unnerving pop-culture staying power. This is Christopher Hampton’s 1985 stage adaptation, and the basis for the steamy ’88 film starring Glenn Close and John Malkovich.
The gods here, though, only appear immortal: Perverted lothario Vicomte (Nils Swanson) and his odious partner in sexual crime, the Madame de Merteuil (Haley Johnson), are transported to 1924 France, a time of flappers and newfound sexual freedoms. It was true then and remains true today: Nothing makes a person more vulnerable than embracing naturally occurring sexual desire.
Vicomte and Merteuil, damning embodiments of the idle rich, make sport of humiliating their rivals, wielding sex as their ultimate weapon. Vicomte targets the married Madame de Tourvel (Kelly Reeves). Merteuil also sics him on a virgin (Mollie Adams-Denner) now engaged to a lover who dumped her.
There are decided advantages and detractions by playing this intimate game so close to (our) chests. Here, we are close enough to be conspirators in the plot; so we must also feel the full effect of the wounds inflicted. But for as much time as these actors spend collectively unbuttoned, they are still, perhaps understandably, somewhat buttoned up.
We are close enough to see not only every facial tic, but to register every hesitation and uncertain line. And that leaves these actors no room to hide. Swanson and Johnson are among Denver’s best actors, but there is a tentativeness between them that belies the real danger of the piece — the passion they harbor for each other. These two, oddly, don’t seem to be having all that much fun.
Among several quality support performances, it’s really Reeves as Vicomte’s broken game piece who achieves a full emotional spectrum.
The production would be better served with music (a central ingredient in any seduction), and less underlining of every single word in the script with even a hint of sexual innuendo.
But it represents a promising start for this new company. This is a production, and a company, that’s not yet fully set ablaze — but it definitely has lit a spark.
John Moore: 303-954-1056 or jmoore@denverpost.com
“Dangerous Liaisons” **1/2 (out of four stars)
Period melodrama. Presented by Spark Theater at 240 S. Broadway. Adapted by Christopher Hampton from the novel by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos. Directed by Michael Emmitt. Through May 22. 7:30 p.m. Thursdays-Saturdays; 6 p.m. Sundays. 2 hours, 40 minutes. $30. 303-319-1342 or . Warning: Nudity, adult themes.
This weekend’s Best Bet: Paragon Theatre’s “Pride”
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In “Pride,” Paragon Theatre’s challenging new stage drama by Alexi Kaye Campbell, Oliver, Philip, and Sylvia are caught up in a potent love triangle that spans decades. Jumping from 1958 London to the present and back again, the threesome is driven up against societal and personal assumptions about sexuality and friendship. As loyalties are questioned and passions revealed, each discovers what it means to be proud of who they are. Starring Jarrad Holbrook, Barbra Andrews, Jake Walker and David Cates. Through June 4. Presented by Paragon Theatre, 1387 S. Santa Fe Drive, 303-300-2210 or
This weekend’s other openings
“Breach” This new rock-concert musical is about the most painful kind of birth: The birth of a pop star. Joanne Donetti is a singer-songwriter from Long Island who performs what she feels and does as she pleases, until a New York record exec discovers her. But is Lou’s interest in the woman he discovered or the star he wants to create? Featuring Amanda Earls and Jace Smykil. Presented by the Evolution Theatre Company in repertory with the Avenue Theater’s “Hedwig and the Angry Inch” Through May 27. At the Avenue Theater, 417 E. 17th Ave., 303-321-5925 or and here’s
“The Divine Sister” The regional premiere of the newest Charles Busch comedy is an outrageous homage to nearly every Hollywood film involving nuns. It tells the story of an indomitable Mother Superior who is determined to build a new school for her Pittsburgh convent. This is the debut production by the new Presteve Theatre, which plans to fill the void in the area’s gay programming. Through May 29. At the McGlone Center, 1420 Ogden St., 720-838-5176 or
“Edward Albee’s Seascape” Albee’s 1975 Pulitzer winner about an older couple vacationing on a sand dune, who are eventually joined by a most unusual pair — of evolving sea creatures. The comedy asks whether life is worth living … and decides there is no alternative. Through May 29. Lake Dillon Theatre, 176 Lake Dillon Drive, 970-513-9386 or
“Indiscretions” In this adaptation of Jean Cocteau’s French comedy “Les Parents Terribles,” the dirty laundry starts to fly when a rambunctious young man reveals he wants to marry his father’s secret mistress. Through June 12. Germinal Stage-Denver, 2450 W. 44th Ave., 303-455-7108 or
“Julius Caesar” Shakespeare’s tragedy portrays the conspiracy against the Roman dictator Julius Caesar, his assassination and the defeat of his conspirators at the Battle of Philippi. Through May 21. Presented by Upstart Crow at the Dairy Center, 2590 Walnut St., Boulder, 303-444-7328 or
“Killers and Other Family” In the regional premiere of this psychological thriller by Lucy Thurber, a woman is forced to confront her past and finally make a choice about the kind of person she wants to be. Sexual situations and violence. Through June 5. The Edge Theater, 9797 W. Colfax Ave., Lakewood, 303-232-0363 or
“Kitchen Witches” Comedy about two TV cooking-show hostesses who have hated each other for 30 years — ever since a man dated one and married the other. Now these two nemeses are co-hosting their own show. Through May 15. Arvada Festival Playhouse, 5665 Olde Wadsworth Blvd., 303-422-4090 or
“The Last Five Years” This musical plays out a doomed marriage in an unusual way — the man’s point of view is told from beginning to end, while the woman’s perspective is told from end to beginning. Through Sunday. Gravity Defied at the Aurora Fox, 9900 E. Colfax Ave., 303-325-3959 or
“Musical Comedy Murders of 1940” Secret passageways, Nazi saboteurs and dead bodies combine to create a blizzard of mayhem in this comedy poking fun at the more ridiculous aspects of Hollywood’s heyday. Through May 21. 513 Main St., Longmont, 303-772-5200 or
“Nunsense” Can you believe those five zany nuns from Hoboken are still trying to raise money to bury their felled fellow sisters who were done in by the tainted soup? Through May 15. Presented by the Estes Park Repertoire Theatre at the Peak to Peak American Grille, 451 S. St. Vrain Ave., 970-577-1331.
“The Odd Couple” Take your pick: Male and female versions are opening of Neil Simon’s classic divorce comedy about a compulsive neatnik and his slovenly best friend. Male version through June 12 at the 73rd Avenue Theatre, 7287 Lowell Blvd., Westminster, 720-276-6936 or . Female version by the Front Range Theatre at the Imagine Center, 960 E. Frontage Road, Castle Rock, 1-866-879-7373 or
“Rose Colored Glass” In 1938 Chicago, two mistrustful widows unite to get a nephew out of Europe before war begins. The play shows the beginning of the holocaust from our side of the ocean. Through June 19. Miners Alley Playhouse, 1224 Washington St., Golden, 303-935-3044 or
Thunder River New Play Festival The featured selection is “The Greater Good,” by Rebecca Gorman. Her play is set in an internment camp for intellectuals and dissenters of an unspecified American war. Being anti-government is dangerous, but being anti-war is deadly. Through Saturday. 67 Promenade, Carbondale, 970-963-8200 or
“Wanderlust” Unique Brooklyn storyteller Martin Dockery performs the true adventure of a man who embarks on a solo trip deep into Africa where he demands an epiphany … any epiphany at all. Saturday and Sunday only. At the Naropa Performing Arts Center, 2130 Arapahoe Ave. Boulder, 800-838-3006 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
Catch up on John Moore’s roundup of the latest theater news, including Boulder Ensemble Theatre Company’s new season announcement, and complete cast lists for Creede Repertory Theatre’s 46th summer season:
