Movie Night at the Theater

Over the weekend, I went to see a newly written play being performed by a local theater company, entitled Contrived Ending. Friends of mine were responsible for set and sound design, so it was worth a look. (Actually, I'd read the play a few months back, for a short day or two maybe thinking of auditioning and trying to dip a toe back into the acting thing. Another time, perhaps.)

It turned out to be a pretty good, but not fantastic night of theater. And I think the parts that were a bit lacking had nothing to do with this production of the piece. The acting was pretty strong, the staging fine. And the set rocked. (I'm not just saying that cause my friend built it. Odds are she won't read this anyway. But it rocked. There it is.)

No, to me, what problems there were existed in the writing. And no, not in the ending the title teases you about. It was more that I felt like the writer really wants to be Kevin Smith. This play struck me very strongly as a combination of the pithy and rapid fire banter of Clerks with the more effective emotional message of Clerks II.

Even the plot was a strong echo of those films. A young twenty-something has just returned to his home town, having dropped out of film school. His old high school friend gets him a job working in a crappy, run-down movie theater. They stand around in the lobby all day and all night, talking about the past, talking about sex, talking about missed opportunities.... talking. It's not bad stuff, but it feels not quite polished yet, like some rewrites could and should be made after this production that could really elevate the play.

But there are plenty of good moments. Many stem from a clever conceit of a "holiday party night" where all the theater employees have to dress up as somebody. The costumes they wear reflect on the characters with razor precision -- the aimless and apathetic lead as Malcolm McDowell from A Clockwork Orange, the drugged-out bipolar maniac as Val Kilmer (as Jim Morrison) from The Doors, the quite sad and a bit disturbed girl who doesn't know what she wants as Winona Ryder in Beetlejuice, the quirky and sexually confused habitual liar as Tim Curry from The Rocky Horror Picture Show, the dismal old man who regrets his life choices as Dan Aykroyd (as Santa Claus) from Trading Places, and the sex predator theater manager as Sharon Stone from Basic Instinct. It's all not just funny, but leads to a few poignant moments, too.

Still, the whole thing has just a hint too much of "here are some people I know that I think are interesting and I want to put them into a play." But again, with a little more polish on the thing, I could see it being produced in more places beyond this local venue. I'd say it's about a "B" at the moment.

But those of you around Denver who sometimes check out the local theater scene might want to give it a look.