“No Sex Please, We’re British”

Spotlight Theatre Company: 6/25 – 813

 L-R: Christian Mast and Rachel White

The current offering at the John Hand Theatre on Lowry is Alistair Foote’s and Anthony Marriott’s “No Sex Please, We’re British.”

     A close relative to such shows as “Run For Your Wife,” “Caught in the Net” and “Move Over, Mrs. Markham,” it’s the kind of British farce with which the fledgling Spotlight Theatre Company began its journey.

     Now that this troupe is maturing it returns from time to time to revisit this genre of theatre. For us as audience it’s a great pleasure to see the result of the honed skills both in direction and in acting.

     Director Luke Allen Terry has done a superb job in his casting and pacing. The piece de resistance however, is the director’s casting of Christian Mast as Brian Runnicles. Why? Mr. Mast is a comic genius and his twitchy, fidgety hilarious performance will have you grinning from ear to ear all evening long.

     The show begins with an unsolicited package of pornographic literature being delivered to the apartment of newlyweds Frances(Rachel White) and Peter Hunter(Tony Ryan.) Horrified at the contents of the package, they do everything possible to keep anyone from discovering this carton’s contents. The unexpected arrival of Peter’s nosy mother, Eleanor (Ann Myers) complicates the situation exponentially. When it seems that the newlyweds’ struggle to keep up appearances can’t get any worse it gets amped up even more when they enlist Mr. Runnicles, a jittery, high-strung friend from Peter’s workplace to help dispose of them.

    , Kelly Dwyer, Dan Connell, package, wyer, Dan Connell, Randy Diamon and Rachel Whyte and Tony Ryan.es becomes exponentiali     Even the supporting roles in this bright evening of farcical whimsy are filled with actors who relish the play’s silliness. They are: Wade Wood, Susan Rahmsdorff, Kelly Dwyer, Dan Connell and Randy Diamon.Marlowe's Musings

Tickets are $12 - $22

720-530-4596 or online at www.thisisspotlight.com

The John Hand Theater, 7653 E. 1st Place, Denver, CO 80230

Free parking.

INTIMATE APPAREL

VINTAGE THEATRE: JUNE 8 – JULY 10

     Lynn Nottage’s play about Esther, an African American seamstress living in New York City in 1910, is writing that is full of fire. 
     Director Seth Rossman was able to elicit powerful performances from his cast.

      Lisa Young is luminous as Esther. 

      Simone St. John creates a portrayal of Mayme that gives us a vibrant sensual lady of the evening.

    L-R: Cris Davenport and Lisa Young

    Cris Davenport is a dramatic dynamo who simmers slowly at first and builds to create a frightening maelstrom of conflict. 

Left-Right: Lisa Young and Seth Maisel

     Seth Maisel is endearing as a Jewish tailor with whom Esther has an abiding friendship.

    Debbie Faber’s costume design is exceptional. The colorful corsets, bustiers, smoking jackets and robes she has created are stunning.

     There is not a weak link in the cast. 

     Alex Polzin’s well appointed scenic design and Rick Reid’s sound design conspire to place us directly into the world of 1910 New York City. 

     Vintage once again delivers a high quality theatre experience. 

    

Vintage Theatre presents

"Intimate Apparel"

June 3-July 10

A young African-American woman travels to New York to pursue her dreams.

Fri/Sat at 7:30 p.m.; Sun at 2:30 p.m.

$24-$30

303-856-7830 or online at www.vintagetheatre.org

Vintage Theatre, 1468 Dayton St., Aurora 80010

BAKERSFIELD MIST

AVENUE THEATER: 6/10-7/2

L-R:  John Ashton and Abby Boes

     John Ashton and Abby Boes succeed in giving us convincing portrayals of two delightfully contrasting characters in Stephen Sachs’ oddly amusing two-hander, “Bakersfield Mist.” Ashton portrays Lionel Percy, the representative of a formidable Art concern in New York City, who has come to Maude Gutman’s (Abby Boes’) trailer park home in Bakersfield, California to assess the possible “unknown work” by Jackson Pollock that she bought for three dollars at a thrift store.

     Director Peter J. Hughes does an admirable job directing this play that wishes to be the unknown masterpiece it’s not. This study of what is authentic in Art–and what is not – provides us as audience with a fascinating topic of discussion. However, one might wish for more focus in the writing on the issue at hand than upon the tangential issues of loss and greed that follow. (If one lives in squalor and is offered three million dollars for a possibly bogus painting would one hold out for a possible three hundred million dollars?) Reality therapy might dictate otherwise.

     The scenic design, which is also by director Hughes is masterful in giving us the illusion of the innards of Maude’s kitschy, chachka-filled trailer park digs... framed in Jackson Pollock-like abstraction. The costumes, also by the director, are spot on, creating the exact right look(s) for these vastly diverse types.

      As this stuffy, stodgy and intentionally stiff stuffed shirt of an art connoisseur, Ashton nails this character with his trademark tongue in cheek finesse. Abby Boes provides a delightfully exaggerated contrast with her head bobbing, knee-bouncing, Jack Daniels swilling Maude Gutman.

       Steven Tangedal’s lighting design is masterful and one wishes to linger a moment longer on the final image he generates and enhances at final curtain. It’s one of my favorite moments of a lighting design since that miraculous final moment in 1969 when I got to see the Declaration of Independence appear on the scrim as John Trumbull’s famous painting of its signing was seen posed behind it in the Broadway musical,"1776."

     Watching John Ashton and Abby Boes spar onstage is where the fun is in this production. For that alone you should run to get a ticket!Marlowe's Musings

Avenue Theater

417 E. 17^th Street

Denver, Co, 80203

For tickets call 303-321-5925 or go online at avenuetheater.com