UCCS' Dusty Loo Bon Vivant Theatre in University Hall may be Theatreworks' permanent home, but they have always striven to be part of the community as a whole. Just across a ridge from the Garden of the Gods, in a stunning valley along Camp Creek called Rock Ledge Ranch, is a specially built tent that Theatreworks' now calls its summer home. Artistic Direcctor Murray Ross describes it as "theatre for the audience," with university and public participation encouraged in the varied processes of production, learning and outright fun. Theatreworks uses support from the University, individuals and community and national organizations.
Theatreworks' 2010/2011 season is a clever combination of the old and the new. Shakespeare's "The Merry Wives of Windsor," located in the tent on Rock Ledge Ranch, began another season of endless creativity and welcomed consistently packed shows, once even extending its run. Theatreworks' advent-garde, basement-dwelling brother, Theatre ‘d Art, opened their year with "Theatregasm 4Ever," a conglomeration of more than 10 short plays hosted by the Osborne Studio Theatre which also received excellent attention.
Theatrework's lineup at the Dusty Loo this year includes a variety of subject matter, ranging from Nicola Tesla in Colorado Springs to Ben Franklin answering to the modern media to a French architect trying to date three stewardesses at the same time to perhaps the greatest modern Russian play.
"I Am Nikola Tesla" by Murray Ross and Co. – September 16-October 3, Tuesday-Saturday 7:30pm, Sunday 4pm (Bon Vivant Theatre)
Artistic Director Ross and Company retells the story of how Nikola Tesla came to Colorado Springs under the lure of free electricity. They meld the legendary "Serbian man with white gloves" with the reality of his wireless electricity experiments near the Deaf and Blind School downtown. The play was produced as part of the Pikes Peak Library District's All Pikes Peak Reads program.
"Ben Franklin's Tea Party" with Christopher Lowell – October 14-17, Thursday-Friday 7:30, Saturday 2 and 7:30pm, Sunday 4pm (Bon Vivant Theatre)
The fifteen years from the Declaration of Independence to the Constitutional Convention were a very influential time for Ben Franklin. Franklin impersonator Christopher Lowell will answer questions from the modern media about that time period and our own.
"Capsule 33" by Thaddeus Phillips and Tatiana Mallarino – October 21-31, Thursday-Friday 7:30, Saturday 2 and 7:30pm, Sunday 4pm (Bon Vivant Theatre)
Imagine life in a Tokyo cubical "apartment." Now imagine deciding whether to stay as the building gets demolished. "Capsule 33" is a one person show that uses a limited set and loads of imagination.
"A Cowboy Christmas Carol" by Waddie Mitchell – December 9-19, Thursday-Friday 7:30, Saturday 2 and 7:30pm, Sunday 4pm, December 20-24, Monday-Friday 7:30pm (Bon Vivant Theatre)
Cowboy poet Waddie Mitchell transfixes the classic Scrooge drama onto the dusty western plains.
"Boeing Boeing" by Marc Campbell – January 20-February 13, Thursday-Friday 7:30, Saturday 2 and 7:30pm, Sunday 4pm (Bon Vivant Theatre)Many men have dreamt about dating airline hostesses, but this spoof of air travel in the 1960s, imagines the rigors of dating three air hostesses at one time.
"The Inspector General" by Nikolai Gogol – March 10-20, Thursday-Friday 7:30, Saturday 2 and 7:30pm, Sunday 4pm (Bon Vivant Theatre)
Nikolai Gogol's famous play about fear of governmental exploitation in Tsarist Russia has inspired generations of Eastern Europeans, including the name of the modern rock band Gogol Bordello.
"The Seagull" by Anton Chekhov – April 21-May 8, Thursday-Friday 7:30, Saturday 2 and 7:30pm, Sunday 4pm (Bon Vivant Theatre)
The famous Russian play that Artistic Director Murray Ross said "launched modern theatre in 1895."
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