Dudes are such tools.
Shakespeare knew it 400 years ago when he wrote one of his ickiest plays, “Two Gentlemen of Verona.” You know a play is problematic when scholars pretty much agree that its best character is a dog. A real one — not that tool king, Proteus.
If you don’t know the story, skip two paragraphs. If you do, you know our protagonist drops his lady love, Julia, faster than Romeo forgets Rosaline ever drew breath. Only here, Proteus falls for Silvia, who’s only his best friend’s girl!
What’s a pal to do? Proteus gets his buddy Valentine banished, makes his play for Silvia and, once rejected, tries to rape her. Busted! When Proteus says, “My bad,” the doofus Valentine hands Silvia over to Proteus as if he’s won her in a game of Quarters.
Who knew “Bro’s before ho’s” had such a regal bloodline?
And wait, wait, don’t tell me … it’s a comedy!
Thankfully, Spark Theater director Michael Emmitt is serious about your not taking his staging too seriously. His modern setting, performed to (mostly) classic dialogue, festively embraces the play’s frat-boy mentality by having Proteus and Valentine be college roommates. Theatergoers are handed a kegger cup on their way in, and a Colorado Avalanche pennant hangs on the wall of a room that, conveniently, is as big as a dorm.
Spark is literally Denver’s smallest theater. It holds 25 people and a cast of 13 actors — just barely — on the second floor of the Imperial office building at 240 S. Broadway.
On the back of your program, there is USA Today-style info-graphic that explains the intricacies of beer pong. The opening line of the play is, “Chug! Chug! Chug!”
That collegial attitude does help rinse out the backwash, so to speak. And there’s some pretty good acting. The intriguing Matthew Blood-Smyth plays Proteus not for sketch-comedy guffaws but with surprising and endearing seriousness. His Proteus blends Hamlet’s brooding with Richard III’s malevolence, which makes him, let’s say, not guilty by reason of insane hormones.
Andrew Miller (Valentine) gives quality support as a gentleman who, in the end, is no gentleman. Lauren Bahlman delivers a strong Silvia who doesn’t buy Proteus’ nonsense for a second. Alejandro Venancio has the toughest job, switching from the heart-stomped Julia into — former Nugget Earl Boykins! Meredith Young (as Julia’s girly servant pal Lucetta), and Broderick Ballentyne (who does Valentine’s bidding as Speed), round out a decent cast that’s only green around the edges.
True to “Verona” history, Luke Terry steals the show as Launce, Shakespeare’s earliest clown. Terry channels his inner Seth Rogan as a grizzly party boy who really has no part in the story at all. But the absence of his scene-stealing dog, named Crab, is a major bummer.
The frat-boy conceit doesn’t completely work because Emmitt doesn’t go far enough with the wink. And it’s problematic. The setting shifts wildly, and the notion of college students having servants and hidden towers and dukes for daddies gets messy. Had they just contained the story to sorority girls with rich fathers to answer to, and hasher boys to serve them dinner, it would have worked fine. That’s real enough — so, too, upper classmen with adoring freshmen lackeys.
When you take the kind of liberties that Spark takes with Shakespeare, it’s fun to gauge the reaction of the crowd. I saw a distraught young woman so seemingly apoplectic, her eyes might bug out. And right behind her, a young man whose eyes were just as wide, but with wonder. His smile made it plain that while toying with Shakespeare may not be for everyone, it can make for a fine introduction to the canon.
This “Verona” is about as substantive as a Judd Apatow film, but it makes an unpalatable story palatable, which is a remarkable accomplishment.
John Moore: 303-954-1056 or jmoore@denverpost.com
“Two Gentlemen of Verona” **1/2 (out of four stars)
Spark Theater, 240 S. Broadway. Though Nov. 20. 2 hours. 7:30 p.m. tonight, and Thursdays through Saturdays $20 ($5 Monday, Nov. 7). 303-319-1342. or
It’s Arts Week: Here are two recommendations
 |
Curious Theatre Company’s “Collapse: Most every local theater company with a currently running production is hooking up with Denver Arts Week by offering special performances and discounts, including the Arvada Center ($2 off “Flat Stanley” and 2-for-1 tickets to “The Road to Mecca,” 720-898-7200), the Denver Center Theatre Company ($52.80 for two tickets to “American Night,” 303-893-4100) and many others such as Bovine Metropolis, The Bug, Byers-Evans, Dangerous, Ignite and Shadow theaters. One of the most intriguing options is Curious Theatre’s heartfelt new comedy, “Collapse.” Though it’s inspired by the 2007 Minneapolis bridge disaster, artistic director Chip Walton swears, “It’s one of the funniest plays we’ve ever produced.” In Allison Moore’s story, Hannah is trying to hold her perfect life together after being laid off, her husband calls in sick for days on end, and, when Hannah’s flaky sister blows in from Los Angeles unannounced, the family sets off on an odyssey full of comic surprises and moving turns. It’s about picking up the pieces and moving on when our lives fall apart. The Nov. 10-12 performances are discounted for Arts Week. 1080 Acoma St., 303-623-0524 or Pictured: Lawrence Curry and Rebecca Remaly. Photo by Michael Ensminger.
MCA’s Black Sheep Friday: The Museum of Contemporary Art is teaming with Buntport Theater for a silly evening of voyeuristic performance-art fun called “Black Sheep Friday” on Nov. 11. You can win a date with Denver’s theatrical collective — yes, all six members — by competing in a “Dating Game”-style game show. The date will take place right away after the contest: An evening at the museum, which will have just opened a new exhibit, “West of Center: Art and the Counterculture Experiment in America 1965-77.” If you don’t get picked, or just want to tag along, you can stay and watch the entire date play out on closed-circuit TV. $5 after 5 p.m.; museum stays open until 10 p.m. Call for sign-up info: 303-298-7554. Hosted by
Best bet: “Frost/Nixon”
 |
The venerable Longmont Theater Company has landed an unusual coup: the first Colorado staging of the recent acclaimed Broadway hit, “Frost/Nixon.” British talk-show host David Frost has become a lowbrow laughingstock and Richard M. Nixon has just resigned the presidency in disgrace over the Watergate scandal. Determined to resurrect his career, Frost risks everything on a series of in-depth interviews in the hope of extracting an apology from Nixon. The cagey president, however, is equally bent on redeeming himself in his nation’s eyes. The result is the interview that sealed a journalist’s career — and a president’s legacy. 7:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays; 2 p.m. Sundays; also 7:30 p.m. Nov. 14 at 513 Main St., 303-772-5200 or . Pictured: Robert Mess, left, as David Frost, and Stuart O’Steen as Richard Nixon.
This weekend’s other theater openings
“Accomplice” In this comic mystery thriller by Rupert Holmes, Janet and her lover plan to murder her husband, Derek. She and the lover act out how they will poison Derek’s cocktail. However, the intended victim has a tape recorder hidden in the room and is aware of what is going on. Through Nov. 19. Presented by Devil’s Thumb Productions at the Dairy Center for the Arts, 2590 Walnut St., Boulder, 303-506-5868 or
“Billy the Poet” In this new play by Bill Thompson, Billy is a vagrant poet who lives in a shelter with his three disturbed wives. In this dark journey to the twilight world of society’s dispossessed, he is preparing his “family” for the upcoming Helter Skelter that will bring the end of the world. Through Nov. 20. 73rd Avenue Theatre Company, 7287 Lowell Blvd., Westminster, 720-276-6936 or
“Night of the Assassins” In their dingy basement, three siblings re-enact a violent assassination in this new play by exiled Cuban playwright José Triana. But we do not know if they are imitating a heinous crime they may have previously committed, or if they are planning a murder they will commit in the future, or simply playing around. Triana was exiled after writing this play. Through Nov. 16. Presented by the 11 Minutes Theatre Company at the Arvada Festival Playhouse, 5665 Olde Wadsworth Blvd., 720-333-3499 or email jak.11minutes@yahoo.com
“Pieces of Eight” Red Rocks Community College’s annual fall presentation of eight original, short plays by local writers including Richard Dresser, William Missouri Downs, Jean Egdorf, Rebecca Gorman, Brenda Hoskins, Pamela Jamruszka Mencher and Jason Karuza. Through Nov. 13. 13300 W. Sixth Ave., Lakewood, 303-914-6458
“South Pacific” “South Pacific” is best-known for its extraordinary 1949 score, including “Some Enchanted Evening,” “Younger Than Springtime,” “Bali Ha’i” and “There Is Nothin’ Like a Dame.” But it also a deeply felt drama about Americans stationed in an alien culture in wartime. This national touring production plays at 7:30 p.m. today and Sunday; and at 2 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday at Fort Collins’ Lincoln Center, 417 W. Magnolia St., 970-221-6730 or
“A Streetcar Named Desire” Tennessee Williams’ 1947 Pulitzer winner is about the violent culture clash that results when Blanche DuBois, a pretentious, fading relic of the Old South, moves in with her sister and brother-in-law, Stanley Kowalski, a rising member of the industrial, urban immigrant class. This is the play that makes beer-drinkers around the country order in a scream, “Stella!!!!” Through Dec. 11. Germinal Stage-Denver, 2450 W. 44th Ave., 303-455-7108 or
“Trinidad: Our Stories, Vol. One”The Southern Colorado Repertory Theatre presents an original play based on the inspiring and humorous stories of those who make up the former mining town of Trinidad, 200 miles south of Denver. Through Nov. 13 at the Mount Carmel Community Center, 911 Robinson St., 719-846-4765 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:
