By John Moore
When: Sept. 7-30
Written by: Tracy Letts
The story: Letts’ 2008 Pulitzer-winning play is perhaps the most savage American family drama in 50 years. When the patriarch of an Oklahoma town disappears, three generations of Westons gather to bicker and attack one another. At the center of this modern Dust Bowl is the poisonous pill-popping matriarch, Violet. She has cancer of the mouth – medically and metaphorically. Violet has no switch to prevent her from blurting the most vicious things that come to her mind. Be prepared: The evening includes two intermissions, more profanity than there is soap to chew and, all told, it lasts 3 1/2 hours. But it speeds by, if it’s done right — and it’s both funny and devastating.
Why it made the list: Both the Denver Center Theatre Company and Curious Theatre had right-of-first-refusal on this modern masterpiece, but the sheer size and cost of producing it professionally no doubt conspired to prompt both of them to pass. That leaves this audacious, brand-new amateur company with no established artistic reputation whatever to take on what others its size can’t, won’t or are too afraid to themselves. OK, Abster, you’ve got our attention … Now show us what you’ve got.
My review of the 2009 national touring production: The only thing missing is Willy Loman driving into a tree at the end. http://www.denverpost.com/theater/ci_12939453
Cast list:
Director: Peter Hughes
Wade Livingston: Beverly Weston
Anne Oberbroeckling: Violet Weston
Abby Apple-Boes: Barbara Fordham
Lisa Kraai: Ivy Weston
Missy Moore: Karen Weston
Jay Louden: Bill Fordham
Christine Sharpe: Jean Fordham
Matt Maxwell: Steve Heidebrecht
Kerry Beebe: Mattie Fae Aiken
Gary Leigh Webster: Charlie Aiken
Shane Delavan: “Little” Charles Aiken
Amanda Kowalski: Johnna Monevata
Ken Paul: Sheriff Deon Gilbeau
Where: Dairy Center for the Arts, 2590 Walnut St., Boulder
Tickets: $20-$23 ($18 on Sept. 18)
Contact: 303-444-7328 or the dairy’s home page
No. 1: Curious Theatre’s “The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity”
No. 2: Ben Dicke Presents’ “Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson”
No. 3: Abster Productions’ “August: Osage County”
No. 4: Midtown Arts Center’s “In the Heights”
No. 5: Denver Center Theatre Company’s “The Giver”
No. 6: Local Theater Company’s “Elijah: An Adventure”
No. 7: Vintage Theatre’s “The Cider House Rules”
No. 8: Miners Alley Playhouse’s “The Three Penny Opera”
No. 9: Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center’s “Make Sure It’s Me”
No 10: Creede Rep’s “Is He Dead?” at the Arvada Center
No. 11: Theatre Or’s “The Value of Names”
Among the many other shows to watch:
Sept. 1-16, 2012: Ami Dayan Presents “A Happy End,” at Buntport Theater Read my interview with playwright Iddo Netanyahu
Sept. 4-16, 2012: National touring production of “La Cage Aux Folles,” at the Buell Theatre
Sept. 7-Nov. 3, 2012: Boulder’s Dinner Theatre’s “Avenue Q”
Sept. 7-22, 2012: Germinal Stage-Denver’s “A Kind of Alaska”
Sept. 7-Oct. 6, 2012: Spark Theater’s “Rebecca” (note new address: 985 Santa Fe Drive)
Sept. 11-30, 2012: Arvada Center’s “Dirty Rotten Scoundrels” (and Oct. 4-14 at the Lone Tree Arts Center)
Sept. 13-16, 2012: PACE Center’s “Scarlet Letter, The Musical” (Parker)
Sept. 14-Oct. 14, 2012: Town Hall Arts Center’s “Sweet Charity” (Littleton)
Sept. 14-Nov. 10, 2012: The Avenue’s “Murder Most Fowl”
Sept. 14-Oct. 14, 2012: Ashton Entertainment’s “Picasso at the Lapin Agile,” at the Aurora Fox studio theater
Sept. 15-Oct. 14, 2012: Bas Bleu’s “The Love of the Nightingale” (Fort Collins)
Sept. 20-Oct. 14, 2012: Denver Center Theatre Company’s “Fences” (Space Theatre
Sept. 21-Oct. 21, 2012: The Edge’s “Boom” (Lakewood)
Sept. 27-Oct 21, 2012: Denver Center Theatre Company’s “The Three Musketeers” (Stage Theatre)
Oct. 2-24, 2012: And Toto Too’s “Pardon My Dust” (at Laundry on Lawrence)
Complete Denver Post theater listings:
Capsules of all currently running productions
