The techniques of verbatim theater go back decades, to at least the 1950s, when young German theater troupes would reenact complicated court cases word for word onstage. Even earlier, in the United States, the WPA paid for a form of this performance with its Living Newspapers, in which theater artists…
Set aside all human decency and imagine, for a moment, that you’re Kim Jong-il. Imagine it’s 1978, and you’re pushing 40, still Great Leader’s son rather than the future Dear Leader. You have yearned for years to create a truly great North Korean cinema, one whose films would be celebrated…
The conventional wisdom about early-career Tim Burton is that he was an imaginative visual stylist but not a great storyteller. That sounds smart, right? It’s still something that a certain kind of ratty-beard-stroking film critic keeps tucked in his sweater vest in case he needs to say something that sounds…
Deepwater Horizon is the most entertaining Hollywood disaster movie in years. I’m sorry — is that a terrible thing to say? Peter Berg’s film is based on the true story of the BP-leased, Transocean-owned deepwater drilling rig that in 2010 exploded in the Gulf of Mexico, killing 11 souls and…
At September 29’s Punx in Solidarity!: From Denver to Standing Rock, the music will be fierce. The art will be bold. The food will be delicious. And the money raised will fund Native resistance. As the DIY artists, chefs and musicians organizing the event tell it, they’re far less important than the…
In northern New Mexico and southern Colorado, various Native American cultures stretching back to antiquity created distinctive works of art. Hundreds of years ago, Latino culture began to flourish in the area, establishing its own set of artistic currents. Finally, a century and a half ago, European-Americans came, and among…
While another a beloved Coloradan institution seems to disappear every week, the demise of the Flossy McGrews costume shop hit harder than most losses. From the storefront, embellished with Lovecraftian decorations, to the lovingly crafted costumes, the place boasted an overwhelming variety of spooky and strange shopping delights that made it a must-stop not…
The glory days of daily newspapers are receding in the rearview mirror, leaving behind legendary tales of the writers who honed their craft as reporters and editors. There are many modern examples of Colorado journalism greats – sportswriter Rick Reilly, network broadcaster Harry Smith, award-winning cartoonists Paul Conrad, Pat Oliphant and Mike Keefe —…
The Taming, a political satire by Lauren Gunderson, is the first offering of the Catamounts’ 2016-’17 season. The play doesn’t probe very deep, despite the reference to Shakespeare’s Taming of the Shrew and a nod to Sartre’s No Exit. But it does provide some points to ponder, some feminist verve, a…
Jim Walsh noticed something odd. The clinical assistant professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of Colorado Denver was researching the immigration of the Irish to the Rocky Mountain region during the Silver Boom of 1879-’93, the kind of work that usually leads scholars to musty rooms…
#60: Dustin Young Dustin Young is a master draftsman of the dreamy side of real life, depicting the imprint of found imagery in a shower of mist and perceived memory. A native Minnesotan off an academic trail that led him from New York to Boston to Lincoln, Nebraska, Young now…
In building the Mayday Experiment, I have to be constantly aware that I am not only building a home, but a quasi-public space. The house itself is also the art, and many of my design choices (such as devoting a large area to seating) reflect those needs more than my…
The mood was celebratory at the opening of the Boulder Ensemble Theatre Company’s Ripcord, the first show of the company’s eleventh season, and also the first at the Dairy Arts Center after the building’s year-long renovation. Over the past twelve months, BETC has performed in the Boulder Chamber of Commerce…
America might not be ready for Fleabag, the new Amazon/BBC series from British writer and creator Phoebe Waller-Bridge. Think about all the guff Girls received for “forcing” viewers along on a ride with myopic 20-somethings. Waller-Bridge has gone even further than Girls creator Lena Dunham, speaking directly to the camera…
The first moments of Luke Cage offer much that the previous 38 or so hours of Marvel superhero Netflix drama haven’t: laughter. Warmth. A sense that the New York City that Daredevil and Jessica Jones mope and brawl through might be more than just a place to save — it…
In certain circles, fantastic facial hair is an art-form, resulting in carefully groomed, waxed, spit-shined and, in some cases, patiently grown whiskers that swirl around in curliques, are shaved into magnificent muttonchops or braided into beautiful plaits. Some of the region’s best-bearded and mustachioed men — and a few imaginative women —…
There’s an unforgettable scene in Like Water for Chocolate. A woman bakes a cake for the wedding of the man she loves but is not marrying. She weeps into the batter. When the wedding guests eat her cake, they vomit wildly: Her grief poisoned her cooking. Janelle VanderKelen draws on this…
They say there’s no business like show business, and week five of the Ultimate Queen All-Stars battle at Tracks (Thursdays for the next four weeks) proved that adage as the girls were challenged to do their best with the music of soundtracks — from Broadway or Hollywood. Gia StaxXx kicked…
It’s the end of the month, and you could be running short on cash. Not to worry: The week is long on free events. You can stir up a little on-stage anarchy, celebrate local music and delve into democracy at this trio of bargain activities. For even more to do…
Road rage is getting worse in Denver — and after Bree Davies recently realized she’d caught the fever, she came up with ten ways to stop road-raging in Denver. One of her top ten? Learn the rules for driving/passing in the left-hand lane, and then observe them. Which means, if…
This weekend, we welcome the highly-anticipated Western The Magnificent Seven and watch Andy Samberg as a bizarre bird in Storks and Zac Efron dive into bully-hazing rituals in Goat. All will be showing just down the street from you, Denver! Here are the five best film openings to indulge in this weekend. Click the movie…
Denver’s building boom has created many challenges for people in the metro area – traffic jams, parking problems — but none as troublesome as this: Jared’s Nursery Gift and Garden Center in Littleton has lost the construction crane for its pumpkin drop. The drop is supposed to be the spectacular culmination of…
