Sunday, February 3, 2019

WAKEY, WAKEY
BENCHMARK THEATRE: 1/18 – 2/16
               L-R: Augustus Truhn and Arlene Rapal

As Guy, the dying man in Benchmark Theatre’s production of Will Eno’s “WAKEY,WAKEY,” Augustus Truhn delivers one of the most authentic performances to have been seen by this reviewer. Very few actors know the craft well enough to devastate an audience so well.
     He’s all alone in a room that has a wheelchair stashed in the corner and a number of boxes packed and stacked along one wall.
      Guy knows we’re present and decides to engage us. His low-key recollections and remembrances are interrupted by momentary lapses of awareness.
      A remote-control device allows him to show slides, games and mesmerizing spirals on the back wall. Even as the character's life force wanes, he instructs us in a technique for gratitude for Life.
       Enter Arlene Rapal in the role of a care-giver named Lisa, who cools his forehead and performs a kind of Reiki on the dying man.
        Thanks to the deft direction of Rachel Rogers a number of surprising moments occur, which momentarily create sensorial disorientation to relieve the emotional tension. 
     Will Eno’s “WAKEY,WAKEY” is a heartfelt and profoundly heart-opening evening of theatre.
      Don’t miss it!Marlowe's Musings

For tickets call 303-519-9059 or go online at benchmarktheatre.com

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