This week on Denver-area stages, secrets come out of the woodwork as a dynasty of Chinese classical musicians gathers in a villa, California’s Proposition 8 trial is re-examined, and local improv actors get down to come serious clowning in pirate suits. Ahoy, matey! Here are the details.
Theatre Esprit Asia, Fermata
ACAD Gallery Theatre
May 8 through 31
7:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays
2:30 p.m. Sundays
2:30 p.m. Saturday, May 30
Tickets: $20 to $26
The award-winning Theatre Esprit Asia (and the region’s only pan-Asian theater troupe), will christen its new permanent home in the Aurora Cultural Arts District Gallery Theatre in downtown Aurora with a homegrown production written by company co-founder Maria Cheng. In Fermata, three generations of Chinese women, all virtuosos in a musical family, reconnect in an Italian villa for Grandma’s eightieth birthday, with results both funny and dead serious. It’s all underscored by a backdrop of classical music.
UNMarried in America
Vintage Theatre
May 8 through June 21
7:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays
2:30 p.m. Sundays
7:30 p.m. Thursday, June 18
2:30 p.m. Saturday, June 20
Tickets: $24 to $28
303-856-7830
Vintage tackles gay rights issues in a the premiere of a drama by Glenwood Springs playwright Kristin Carlson. UNMarried in America zooms in as a court reporter in the case to overturn Proposition 8 in California, reconsiders her own stand on the ban of gay marriage, and zooms back out to explore the power of public opinion. Carlson will give talkbacks after the show on the opening and closing weekends, joined on May 29 and 30 by Ryan Kendall, an original witness at the Prop 8 trial.
Cult Following: Pirate Ship
The Jones Theatre
8 p.m. Friday, May 8
Tickets: $15
Everyone knows that when you put a pirate in it, hilarity and pirate-speak will ensue. That’s pretty much the story for Friday, May 8 with Off-Center@The Jones’s recurring Cult Following, featuring a cast of quick-witted improv artists in eye patches and peglegs. As only Off-Center can do, the audience will be dragged willingly onto the ship, where swashbuckling humor and stunts will rule the seas. For the especially adventurous, Off-Center offers a pre-show option at 6 p.m. that includes a sword-and-stage-combat class, dinner with the cast and a chance to take the stage during the show, by reservation, for an additional $12 fee.
Find a stage near you: Check out Westword's online listings for more theater events for this week.