After 14 years of experimenting on and off with 10-minute plays, the Durango Arts Repertory Theatre has settled on what may become a winning format.
Last weekend, Managing Artistic Director Monica DiBiasio transformed five directors and 13 actors into a company of players for the 15th annual festival. Five plays ranged from a romance between work colleagues, a spoof on play readings, two marital tangles embedded in two different genres, and a quicksilver, 10-part fantasy about the life span of insects. To say the festival was ambitious would be an understatement.
The opener, “Life & Death & Crap,” by Pam Dickler, Tabatha Bettin, Jessica Lewis and Sam Farmer, unspooled Dickler’s inventive fantasy about the brevity of life. Directed by Vanessa Frank, 10 extremely short scenes appeared throughout the evening and came to the inevitable conclusion to close the festival – with unexpected humor. Credit DiBiasio for the idea of threading the scenes through the performance and wrapping up the season with style.
“The Worst Play Ever!”, by Brian Petti, turned out to be a spoof of another genre, play readings. A playwright (a comically agitated Jason Lythgoe) introduces himself and goes about reading stage directions and summarizing the action of a formulaic Western. Bettin appears as a heroine in a storm. Farmer saves the day as the hero, each miming the action with only one end line to reinforce the inner title: “Fifty Bucks.” Lake Jorgenson appears briefly as the costumer. Directed by DiBiasio, this spoof of play readings comes three weeks before Durango’s PlayFest. Timing is everything.
“Interplanetary Paul’s Divorce Spectacular,” by Marshall Logan Gibbs, unfurled with a snazzy film introduction to illustrate an adult obsession. Paul (a lively Ashton Root, who also directed) engages in fierce combat with his nemesis Brendar (a ferocious Dolores Mazurkewicz). A flip into reality brings wife Brenda (a sensible Susan Bennett) into the mix, and Paul’s troubles race to a conclusion. Credit Root for having his players overact and overproject. Durango Arts Center’s acoustics continue to be problematic, and this ensemble surmounted the venue’s drawbacks.
“A Book by Any Other Cover,” by David MacGregor, turned out to be the only so-called realistic entry. Directed by Wendy Ludgewait, two work colleagues meet and sort out an attraction by exploring specific irritations. Cynthia (wonderfully played by Isabelle Rosales) and Ken (an engaging Tyler Wiseman) sit at a lunch table, but Ludgewait keeps them moving until a fresh ending surprises.
“The Shot Heard ’Round,” by Konrad Rogowski, demonstrated how a simple scheme can blossom into complications even in 10 minutes. Directed by Ludgewait, a play-within-a-play idea reveals itself quickly, but the resolution comes as a surprise. Janice/Brenda (the marvelous Lisa Zwisler) calls in a threat by her husband Sid/Jeffrey (the inimitable Ted Holteen, another Durango actor with superb stage presence and comic timing). Rogowski’s sharp writing sorts the actors from the married couple as marital and stage storms ensue. Jolly good fun.
To close the evening, the final episodes of Dickler’s life-span metaphor for humans ended not with a whimper or a bang but a humorous sound effect. Credit Sound Designer Naljeheh Davies for the proverbial last word to bring the entire festival to a stylish, lighthearted conclusion.
Judith Reynolds is an arts journalist and member of the American Theatre Critics Association.
