During his days as a child actor with the Denver Center for the Performing Arts, Jake Brasch learned a lesson in staying true to his artistic vision that sticks with him today. Cast as the boy on the street in the DCPA's 2003 production of A Christmas Carol, Brasch delivered his lines to Scrooge with what he describes as a "sarcastic edge."
Director Laird Williamson instructed him to play the scene with more earnestness, but Brasch felt his interpretation — a skeptical, quippy response to an eccentric old man asking about the holiday — was truer to the moment. Though he says he was "worried they were going to replace me," when the reviews came out, Brasch got the last laugh. Westword's Juliet Wittman praised his performance, writing that "Jake Brasch as the boy on the street displays a refreshing sense of irony."
"It was my first review and my favorite line that has ever existed in print about me," Brasch says. "I remember my parents framing it for me."
Decades later, that sense of irony still defines Brasch's work, including his latest project, The Reservoir, which premieres at the DCPA’s Singleton Theatre on January 24.
The Reservoir tells the story of Josh, a young man whose life is in shambles after he returns to Denver from NYU. Battling addiction and memory loss, he leans on his four aging grandparents for support in unconventional ways. Josh is determined to drag his grandparents along on his journey to recovery, engaging them in everything from Jazzercise classes to spinach-eating, but he eventually realizes the futility of fighting the aging process.
Although The Reservoir is inspired by Brasch’s own experiences of battling alcohol addiction while studying drama as an undergraduate at NYU and his decision to return to Denver in 2014 to get sober and reconnect with family in Colorado, it "is not strictly autobiographical," he explains. "I had wanted to write a play about the year I got sober and specifically connecting...or reconnecting, I should say...with my grandparents for a while, but I was super scared to do it."
Brasch has now been sober for ten years, writing in a way he describes as "baking without a recipe, "and earning a living as a professional "birthday party clown."
What finally gave Brasch permission to develop the script for The Reservoir was a commission from the Ensemble Studio Theatre and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation for a science-related project in 2021. During his research, Brasch discovered the concept of cognitive reserve, which refers to ways to prevent dementia or brain damage caused by addiction, injury or other factors.
"That concept gave me the distance necessary to fictionalize the story," Brasch says. "Actually, a lot is made up for the sake of the story, the science or to protect my heart and family. The thing I experienced writing it was that, strangely, the more permission I gave myself to fictionalize, the more comfortable I was to tell the truth – the emotional truth, right? I like to say that even though a lot of what's on stage is not my story, the feelings are."
The play was used as Brasch’s submission piece for Juilliard, where he honed his distinctive voice as a playwright from 2022 to 2024. He credits the school with teaching him how structure allows for creativity. “I write batshit stuff,” Brasch says. “Understanding structure gives you permission to be weirder, not more rigid.”
The Reservoir’s development journey included workshops at the Ensemble Studio Theatre and a 2023 reading at the Colorado New Play Summit hosted by the DCPA. The latter was a turning point for the play, allowing Brasch to refine its pacing and transitions.
"I loved the Summit," Brasch says. "Nothing is better than watching a bunch of plays and getting to meet actors, directors and writers from all over the country with things in progress. As a writer, there need to be more opportunities for us to get feedback, but they are increasingly going away, which makes this event all the more important. You have to hear plays read aloud and my play is strange; it's a weird play. Yet, when people heard it read, it was sort of undeniable, so I'm super grateful for that opportunity."
On stage, The Reservoir unfolds in a surreal “mind palace,” where memories and emotions blur together. The absence of traditional transitions underscores the play’s relentless energy, reflecting Josh’s turbulent journey. Director Shelley Butler and the design team have embraced this vision with a set that seamlessly integrates fantastical elements.
"The set constantly manifests things like rivers or spinach that are happening in the main character's mind out of nowhere,” Brasch notes. “It's simple yet stunningly intricate. The play is really deeply strange, so seeing it visually has been such a treat. Our designers are just unbelievable. The spectacle will shock and awe you; I know I was."
This production is also a milestone in theatrical collaboration. It's co-produced by the DCPA, Atlanta's Alliance Theatre and Los Angeles's Geffen Playhouse, and the set is designed to travel to all locations: the Denver cast will travel to Atlanta before a new cast takes over in L.A.
"The scope of this project is so much bigger than anything I've ever done," Brasch says. "I'm used to putting on my shows for thirty people in dirty garages in Bushwick. Being able to spread the message of the play with people in three cities is something I’m still trying to wrap my mind around. I give huge credit to these theaters for working together so collaboratively. Co-productions are a relatively new model, and this play has been a part of the new frontier of how we can do that."
While riding the wave of The Reservoir’s success, Brasch is already developing his next project: a musical about a religious sect in Nebraska whose members wear butt plugs to avoid being sucked into the sky during the Rapture. "You ready for that shit, Westword?" he teases. Beyond that, Brasch hints at additional projects in development, though details remain under wraps.
For Brasch, debuting The Reservoir in Denver is more than a professional milestone — it’s a personal one.
“This play will resonate anywhere, but it’s special to debut it here,” he says. “The play is a love letter to Colorado. I think that the play will work all around the world when it's staged, but it will play like gangbusters here because it’s about what it meant for me to be raised here, get sober here and be with my family here. Don't be scared by the fact that this play is about hard stuff; it's a comedy. You'll laugh your ass off and you'll see all of your favorite Denver landmarks in the play."
As he continues to push theatrical boundaries, Brasch reflects on the journey that brought him here. “I wrote for fifteen years before anyone noticed,” he says. “Then suddenly they did through some luck and the fact that I think my work got better, but I had to stick with it. I would love to share that with the world; I didn't really do anything differently, I just kept writing and then for whatever reason a play found its way into the hands of the Denver Center, which found its way into the hands of two other theaters and, hopefully, that'll continue. But I'm glad I didn't give up."
The evolution of a boy delivering lines in A Christmas Carol to a playwright with a co-produced production has been filled with persistence, and the spirit captured by that first review that still characterizes his writing. "I hope to continue to display a refreshing sense of irony until I die," Brasch concludes.
The Reservoir is now in previews; after opening officially on Friday, January 24, it runs through Sunday, March 9, at the Singleton Theatre, Denver Performing Arts Complex, 1400 Curtis Street. Tickets are $48 to $93; learn more at denvercenter.org.
Director Laird Williamson instructed him to play the scene with more earnestness, but Brasch felt his interpretation — a skeptical, quippy response to an eccentric old man asking about the holiday — was truer to the moment. Though he says he was "worried they were going to replace me," when the reviews came out, Brasch got the last laugh. Westword's Juliet Wittman praised his performance, writing that "Jake Brasch as the boy on the street displays a refreshing sense of irony."
"It was my first review and my favorite line that has ever existed in print about me," Brasch says. "I remember my parents framing it for me."
Decades later, that sense of irony still defines Brasch's work, including his latest project, The Reservoir, which premieres at the DCPA’s Singleton Theatre on January 24.
The Reservoir tells the story of Josh, a young man whose life is in shambles after he returns to Denver from NYU. Battling addiction and memory loss, he leans on his four aging grandparents for support in unconventional ways. Josh is determined to drag his grandparents along on his journey to recovery, engaging them in everything from Jazzercise classes to spinach-eating, but he eventually realizes the futility of fighting the aging process.
Although The Reservoir is inspired by Brasch’s own experiences of battling alcohol addiction while studying drama as an undergraduate at NYU and his decision to return to Denver in 2014 to get sober and reconnect with family in Colorado, it "is not strictly autobiographical," he explains. "I had wanted to write a play about the year I got sober and specifically connecting...or reconnecting, I should say...with my grandparents for a while, but I was super scared to do it."
Brasch has now been sober for ten years, writing in a way he describes as "baking without a recipe, "and earning a living as a professional "birthday party clown."
"Some people work as baristas to support their dreams and some people are birthday party clowns," Brash says. "People always ask me, ‘Were you a French clown or something?’ I'm a show-up clown. I would be there for an hour, like, ‘Who wants a balloon? I got to go soon.’ When I'm not doing work stuff, my hubby and I are big bike riders in New York; I go to the symphony; and I go to way too much theater."
What finally gave Brasch permission to develop the script for The Reservoir was a commission from the Ensemble Studio Theatre and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation for a science-related project in 2021. During his research, Brasch discovered the concept of cognitive reserve, which refers to ways to prevent dementia or brain damage caused by addiction, injury or other factors.
"That concept gave me the distance necessary to fictionalize the story," Brasch says. "Actually, a lot is made up for the sake of the story, the science or to protect my heart and family. The thing I experienced writing it was that, strangely, the more permission I gave myself to fictionalize, the more comfortable I was to tell the truth – the emotional truth, right? I like to say that even though a lot of what's on stage is not my story, the feelings are."
The play was used as Brasch’s submission piece for Juilliard, where he honed his distinctive voice as a playwright from 2022 to 2024. He credits the school with teaching him how structure allows for creativity. “I write batshit stuff,” Brasch says. “Understanding structure gives you permission to be weirder, not more rigid.”
The Reservoir, written by Jake Brasch (left) follows a young man whose life is in disarray after returning to Denver.
Jamie Kraus Photography
"I loved the Summit," Brasch says. "Nothing is better than watching a bunch of plays and getting to meet actors, directors and writers from all over the country with things in progress. As a writer, there need to be more opportunities for us to get feedback, but they are increasingly going away, which makes this event all the more important. You have to hear plays read aloud and my play is strange; it's a weird play. Yet, when people heard it read, it was sort of undeniable, so I'm super grateful for that opportunity."
On stage, The Reservoir unfolds in a surreal “mind palace,” where memories and emotions blur together. The absence of traditional transitions underscores the play’s relentless energy, reflecting Josh’s turbulent journey. Director Shelley Butler and the design team have embraced this vision with a set that seamlessly integrates fantastical elements.
"The set constantly manifests things like rivers or spinach that are happening in the main character's mind out of nowhere,” Brasch notes. “It's simple yet stunningly intricate. The play is really deeply strange, so seeing it visually has been such a treat. Our designers are just unbelievable. The spectacle will shock and awe you; I know I was."
This production is also a milestone in theatrical collaboration. It's co-produced by the DCPA, Atlanta's Alliance Theatre and Los Angeles's Geffen Playhouse, and the set is designed to travel to all locations: the Denver cast will travel to Atlanta before a new cast takes over in L.A.
"The scope of this project is so much bigger than anything I've ever done," Brasch says. "I'm used to putting on my shows for thirty people in dirty garages in Bushwick. Being able to spread the message of the play with people in three cities is something I’m still trying to wrap my mind around. I give huge credit to these theaters for working together so collaboratively. Co-productions are a relatively new model, and this play has been a part of the new frontier of how we can do that."
While riding the wave of The Reservoir’s success, Brasch is already developing his next project: a musical about a religious sect in Nebraska whose members wear butt plugs to avoid being sucked into the sky during the Rapture. "You ready for that shit, Westword?" he teases. Beyond that, Brasch hints at additional projects in development, though details remain under wraps.
Jake Brasch's play The Reservoir premieres at the DCPA this week.
Courtesy of Jamie Kraus Photography
“This play will resonate anywhere, but it’s special to debut it here,” he says. “The play is a love letter to Colorado. I think that the play will work all around the world when it's staged, but it will play like gangbusters here because it’s about what it meant for me to be raised here, get sober here and be with my family here. Don't be scared by the fact that this play is about hard stuff; it's a comedy. You'll laugh your ass off and you'll see all of your favorite Denver landmarks in the play."
As he continues to push theatrical boundaries, Brasch reflects on the journey that brought him here. “I wrote for fifteen years before anyone noticed,” he says. “Then suddenly they did through some luck and the fact that I think my work got better, but I had to stick with it. I would love to share that with the world; I didn't really do anything differently, I just kept writing and then for whatever reason a play found its way into the hands of the Denver Center, which found its way into the hands of two other theaters and, hopefully, that'll continue. But I'm glad I didn't give up."
The evolution of a boy delivering lines in A Christmas Carol to a playwright with a co-produced production has been filled with persistence, and the spirit captured by that first review that still characterizes his writing. "I hope to continue to display a refreshing sense of irony until I die," Brasch concludes.
The Reservoir is now in previews; after opening officially on Friday, January 24, it runs through Sunday, March 9, at the Singleton Theatre, Denver Performing Arts Complex, 1400 Curtis Street. Tickets are $48 to $93; learn more at denvercenter.org.
