15 Jul New theatre from Telluride Playwrights Festival, at The Palm
By Jennie Franks, founder/artistic director
While our small band of Telluride Playwrights Festival participants were busy talking, plotting, acting and reading, the Telluride Rep has been quietly rehearsing the third play of the Festival – This Isn’t What It Looks Like, Philip Gerson's zany, political comedy that anyone who lives in today's America can relate to.This year I knew I wanted to do something bold and different for the Telluride Playwrights Festival, and Philip’s play immediately caught my eye. The vitality of This Isn’t What It Looks Like jumped off the page.
A right-wing talk show host invades the life of a poor left- wing schmoe. Good stuff. Funny, sharp, intelligent, cynical and unrelenting, perfect for Telluride. Luckily, at the same time as I was trying to find a way to do the play, the Rep were looking for a summer show. So for the last six weeks, we’ve been collaborating on this theatrical experiment. It’s been so much fun to see local actors take on their characters under the astute direction of the brilliant director/playwright William Missouri Downs. William immediately had a vision for the show. Coming to town for the first time, he was armed with cool video and music to add to the production.
In the early days of the collaboration, we all went backstage at the Palm. We saw how perfect it would be to seat the audience around the action, the bare-bones theatre a set unto itself. I find it so exciting to create a theatre in a theatre in Telluride. Sitting inside on the stage of the Palm, I felt like I was back in London or Berlin, anywhere but here.
In the early days of the collaboration, we all went backstage at the Palm. We saw how perfect it would be to seat the audience around the action, the bare-bones theatre a set unto itself. I find it so exciting to create a theatre in a theatre in Telluride. Sitting inside on the stage of the Palm, I felt like I was back in London or Berlin, anywhere but here.
So for me the excitement of This Isn’t What It Looks Like is two-fold, a great new funny play, and a great new theatre space in which to watch the play unfold with some the best of local acting ever. The talent we have in our small town constantly amazes.
Don’t miss This Isn’t What It Looks Like if you want to be part of and enjoy a totally different theatrical experience. Running at 7.30, July 15 – July 18. $15.
NOT suitable for children.
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