The subject may be art, but there’s a lot more ridiculous than sublime going on in Catherine Trieschmann’s amusing comedy about a clash of ideals and agendas. “The Most Deserving” is on stage at the Ricketson Theatre through Nov. 17.
* * ½ comedy
Kansas’ Ellis County arts council has a $20,000 grant to dispense to one artist — talented, in need and preferably a member of an under-represented class. (Turns out fractions matter.)
While that may not sound like a great deal of money, it’s more than enough to stir a politicized pot. Petty power plays will be attempted and strange alliances forged as founder Jolene and her four colleagues — slacker hubby Ted, widowed arts patron Edie, art history professor Liz and Dwayne — haggle over who should get the grant.
Jolene (Judith Hawking) is pushing for a well-connected painter who could secure funding for the arts from the city council.
If it’s neediness they’re after, says Dwayne (Craig Bockhorn), look no further. They’re all aware, he reminds them, of his own financial misfortune. And, better, he’s begun a series of paintings of vice presidents.
Perhaps not surprisingly, even the boudoir isn’t a lobbying free zone.
Art history academic Liz Chang (Rebecca Hirota) proposes Everett Whiteside, who happens to be African-American and wheel-chair bound. He makes religiously inspired work out of “found objects, or as the rest on the committee say, “trash.”
Jonathan Earl Peck plays Whiteside, who has no shortage of vision — or for that matter hallucinations. Peck’s performance gives heft to the laughs.
No character goes untarnished here and “The Most Deserving” ends its first act with a spontaneous and bigoted declaration that may scuttle one of candidate’s chances.
As “The Most Deserving” begins to lay out the characters competing aims — and needs, however wrong-headed — the comedy takes on some pathos. Which makes the play’s more sitcom tendencies frustrating. A half turn by director Shelley Butler to dial down the broader tics and gestures would yield something just as funny but with more ballast.
Instead, as good as the cast is — and they are enjoyable in their jockeying — they allow the audience a superior distance. It’s too easy to judge them.
“Most Deserving” is one of four plays from February’s receiving a world premiere at the Denver Center Theatre Company this season.
Hawking, so fantastic as Jolene during the New Play Summit reading, returns with the same fabulous pinched delivery but a bit too many mannerisms to go with it. Also reprising her role is Jeanne Paulsen, who finds a body to go with Edie’s patrician observations.
Bockhorn finds an endearing way to make Dwayne’s self-serving pitch not only funny but desperately, bone-headedly human.
If Dwayne is bumpkin as fool, Sam Gregory’s Ted is smart guy as bombastic and smitten fool. I wish the play had seized the opportunity, to make sense of Ted and Jolene’s marriage not merely make fun of it.
As for the production: David Barber’s scenic design is ace.
And there’s fine comedy to be found in Leah Piehl’s costumes, in particular Ted’s choice of undies.
Lisa Kennedy: 303-954-1567, lkennedy@denverpost.com or twitter.com/bylisakennedy
The Most Deserving
Written by Catherine Trieschmann. Directed by Shelley Butler. 135 minutes. Through Nov. 17. At the Ricketson Theatre, 14th and Curtis streets. Tickets $47-$57 via or 303-893-4100.
