Dividing the Estate

Arvada Center for the Arts: 4/30 – 5/26

     The Arvada Center’s production of “Dividing the Estate” is a thoroughly enjoyable evening of theatre. The magnificent direction is by A. Lee Massaro! Ms. Massaro should be in the director’s chair always in this town. This director has cast the show impeccably and paced the show at such a clip that the audience is rapt throughout.

     The stunning cast includes the likes of the divine Anne Oberbroeckling as the stubborn matriarch, Mark Rubald as the drunken brother, Sharon Kaye White as a greedy daughter and the incredible Russell Costen as a hilariously loquacious black servant. 

                                      Anne Oberbroeckling and Russell Costen

Rachel Fowler is brilliant.  Michael McNeill stuns! Director Massaro has also very wisely enlisted the talents of Clare Henkel (costumes), Brian Mallgrave (scenic design) and Jacob M. Welch (lighting design.)

     If one were to compare this play to cinema he might say that it’s sort of an odd amalgam of Eric Von Stroheim’s early masterpiece, “Greed,” and Shepperton Studios’ wacky take on avarice called “The Wrong Box.”

     “Dividing the Estate” is an amusing study of a dysfunctional family letting its penchant for avarice hang out all over the place.  It may not be Pulitzer Prize winner and Oscar winner Horton Foote’s most artistically satisfying work, but you won’t even get a hint that that might be true with the outstanding Director Lee Massaro at the helm.Did I mention that she’s a GREAT director? The show comes with high recommendations from this reviewer’s desk.

Performances are Tuesday through Saturday at 7:30 p.m., Wednesday at 1:00 p.m., Saturday and Sunday at 2:00 p.m.  Talkbacks will be offered Friday, May 10 after the 7:30 p.m. show and Wednesday, May 15 after the 1:00 p.m. show. To purchase tickets and for additional information go www.arvadacenter.org or call 720-898-7200. Marlowe's Musings