Last night, I had the great pleasure of seeing my thriller “Few Thy Voice” presented by Vintage Theatre Company of Aurora, CO as part of their third annual New Play Festival!

I’m very glad I was able to make a quick trip to Denver to attend the staged reading of my play, which opened the new play festival. The play was directed by actor/director Kalond Irlanda, who brought an uncanny thoughtfulness to the task.

The cast was as follows:

• Steve Kramer……………………….Richard Crenshaw
• Tracy Denver….Eloise Olympia Pambeck-O’Malley
• Ronan Viard………………………….Fenno Masterson
• Patrick Brownson………………………August Jaysen
• Leroy Leonard………………………..Patrick O’Malley
• Colleen Lee………………………………….Illyria Swan

I must say I was very, very impressed by the quality of the actors and actresses in the reading. The talent pool stretched very wide, from the deliciously chatty and hammy scheming brought to the role of Richard Crenshaw by Steve Kramer to the shaky, fragile, yet explosive passion brought to the role of Illyria Swan by Colleen Lee. The staged reading format has its challenges and limitations – and the challenges and limitations are obvious – but the cast was so skilled and Kalond’s directing so deft that the play truly came alive for me. The play flowed comfortably from beginning to end, balanced by just the tight amount of exposition and infused with a surprisingly good, steady pace in dialogue (which is unusual for a staged reading format). I also fully enjoyed a post-show talkback with the audience and the actors, most of whom had better ideas about the play than I’ve ever had.

Above all, I have to record how impressed I am with Vintage Theatre itself. I was hosted during my trip by Lorraine Scott, who serves as Vice President of the Board of Directors. Lorraine was extremely welcoming and showed me around the theater and introduced me to quite a few lovely people. Vintage has two theater spaces and produces twelve shows a season, as well as hosting a splendid cabaret space for mid-week shows in their reception hall. I’m especially impressed to see that Vintage has a very dedicated subscriber base – and rightly so. They are truly an asset for the Denver theater community. I’ve seldom met a smaller size theater that appears to be so well-organized and professional.

Many thanks to Lorraine Scott and Artistic Director Bernie Cardell for hosting the new play festival and making this great experience possible!