Acting Up

Cilicia A. Yakhlef

GREATNESS
@
ON THE VERGE

The Bug Theatre
3654 Navajo Street
303-477-9984
www.bugtheatre.com
8 pm F-Sa through April 7

Here's one for all of our favorite Go-Go readers out there. On the Verge not only has a title we can all relate to, the credits read like a Go-Go Yearbook's favorites list. The play is being staged at the Bug Theatre, our pick for Theatre of the Year. And, get this, three out of the four players on stage were featured in the Yearbook issue. The lovely, gracious and forgiving (I hope) McPherson Horle was pictured as Titania, who (with her Bottom) won our award for Cutest Couple. Feloniz Salas won our Actress of the Year award, in part for her comic timing. These two belles of the Bug team up with Gary Culig, actor extrordinaire and Go-Go's Actor of the Year. Lindsey Pierce rounds out the stage with a fine performance, playing in what may well be the best production of the year 2001.

On the Verge is a stunningly fresh play written in extremely intelligent language which spins out of the script like poetic verse, complete with meter, assonance, and alliteration. What opens as a rather stiff scene involving three female Victorian explorers soon evolves into an enticing perusal of the women's character and attachment to Victorian paradigms. Once these characters and paradigms are in place however, playwright Eric Overmyer brilliantly deconstructs the entire lot, and, not willing to limit his brilliance to Victorian times, deconstructs linear history by setting the women to run amok like bustled ballerinas, toe-dancing over to the twentieth century and beyond. [Editor's Note: This may or may not be the 'beyond' Denver radio stations play music from.]

Costume designer Heather Brooks adds her laudable talent to the production in what is likely the most authentically costumed period piece seen on a small stage anywhere in the metro area. Brooks holds an MFA in Costume Design and she knows how to use it. She trusses up the three main characters in corsets and bustles, complete with buttons and kick-pleats and hats and high collars. Yet with all the rich detail and definition of the era, Brooks doesn't allow her creations to overwhelm the actresses, or the audience. To her credit, Brooks mutes the colors of her costumes and silences the rustle of slips and the clatter of heels, allowing the audience to fully enjoy the effects of four very fine, well-dressed performances.

C. J. Hosier creates a fluidly functional set and director Mathew Howard utilizes it fully, creating scenes that span from the depths of Africa's jungles to '50s dance floors, all with never more than 15 seconds to change the set. When a production moves this flawlessly, not only the director but the entire crew must be given credit for making it all seem so effortless.

Now, one can applaud the playwright, the costumier, the director, the theatre and everything else that goes into a production until the end of time, but if the thing lacks actors-- good ones to be exact-- it will always come off like a steaming pile of dung. Fortunately, the Bug has gained a reputation for quality, and has fostered and been graced by the presence of some mighty fine acting professionals.

McPherson Horle creates a well-grounded and stable character in Mary, one who is both comically proper and matronistically fierce at the same time. Feloniz Salas as Fanny is a die-hard explorer with a competitive edge who often cuts at her cohorts. But the bravest heart on stage is that of Alexandra, played by Lindsey Pierce. Alexandra, having less practical knowledge of both the culture and counter-culture of the Victorian era is often tripped up by her companions. Alexandra however is the first to realize and the most anxious to embrace the dawning future stumbled upon by the trio. The three women play off each other marvelously and with perfect timing.

But if they light up the stage, then nuclear fusion is the only metaphor one can use for the energetic addition of Gary Culig. Culig plays a total of eight roles, both masculine and feminine. When he takes the stage the electricity between the four turns into a veritable lightning storm. Culig, one of the area's best comedic and serious actors, projects more than just his voice to the audience. In his first scene, he uses body posture, head movements, facial expression and

comic timing to evoke peals of laughter from the audience before he ever even utters a sound. Culig is one of the few actors I've ever seen who is fully capable of overwhelming any stage at any time. To his credit, he doesn't. Somehow, instead, he manages to let the audience feel the full impact of his comic and theatrical energy only at times when the script and the director call for it.

2001 is panning out to be a great year theatrically speaking. It is an exciting time to be involved in Denver's small theater community. Donna Morrison and Alex Weimer of the Bug certainly are leaders within this community and rightfully so. They've picked yet another winner in On the Verge, and they've peopled it with supremely capable talent. If you love theatre, creativity, language, great acting, beautiful costumes and the like, or even if you simply love to laugh, this play is a must see. On the Verge at the Bug is exemplary of all that is right with Denver's theatre-- at any level. A