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Performing Arts

Red, Watson, Scoundrels

Creede Repertory Theatre launches season with a spin on ‘Jeopardy!’
Creede Repertory Theatre (blue building on right) in Creede, will be opening its 51st season on Friday.

After celebrating its big 50th anniversary last summer, Creede Repertory Theatre is moving forward. Even from its modest beginnings, CRT has been in the business of presenting compelling dramas, comedies and American musicals in Colorado’s high country.

The 51st season will open tonight, May 27, with the first of a heady mix of new plays, dark comedies and a rousing musical. “Dirty Rotten Scoundrels,” a comedic romp about two con artists who bamboozle unsuspecting widows, may well be a surrogate for our ongoing political campaign. Based on the evergreen 1988 film of the same title, “Scoundrels” offers a light-hearted take on the art of the swindle.

“The (curious case of the) Watson Intelligence,” is another matter. This contemporary play brings the idea of genius to bear in a time-traveling techno-drama by Madeleine George. It spans the years 1876 to 2011, and prods all the connections that link humans to machines. “Jeopardy!” fans will not be disappointed.

“Kind of Red,” by CRT mercurial genius-in-residence John DiAntonio, brings twin spirits to the aid of a jazz trumpet player down on his luck. A prayer to St. Lucia delivers an unexpected redhead from a 1950 TV comedy to turn his life around. It’s a fresh, new play about passion, despair, the search for fame and the mystery of human connection.

“The History Room,” by Charlie Thurston, is a dark comedy about the promises we make and may regret. With touches of magic realism, the play explores our fears about aging and dementia, our sense of honor and loss, and the question of who decides our own final chapter.

To the four major summer offerings add the improvisational hijinks of “Boomtown.” Actors in the company linger after performances on certain nights to put on a totally improvised show. This plus additional offerings just for families and young people are also on the master schedule.

The final offering, Noel Coward’s witty, fast-aced “Private Lives,” will open Aug. 19 and runs through to the end of the season, Sept. 17.

Now that CRT has opened a second theater, The Ruth, in addition to the main stage, you can see a cluster of productions in one trip. If you plan smartly, you can see four plays plus the improv, “Boomtown,” in one trip. And there’s always Nature’s bonus, the drive over Wolf Creek Pass.

Judith Reynolds is an arts journalist and member of the American Theater Critics Association.

If You Go

The 51st season of Creede Repertory Theatre, 124 North Main St., Creede, CO. “Dirty Rotten Scoundrels,” “The (curious case of the) Watson Intelligence,” “Kind of Red,” “The History Room,” “Private Lives” and “Boomtown,” now through Sept. 17, Tickets range from $10 to $40. Schedule and information: (719) 658-2540 or www.creederep.org.



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