BWW Reviews: SPIRITS TO ENFORCE with The Catamounts

Even superheroes need a little help putting on Shakespeare. By tele-fundraising. From inside of a submarine.

And that's how The Catamounts' are kicking off their fifth season, with Mickle Maher's Spirits to Enforce. This is the Cats' second excursion with Maher since their 2014 production of There Is A Happiness That Morning Is. Maher's obscure brilliance joining forces with The Catamounts' talent makes for a theatrical superpower.

It's a little peculiar to have a cast of this size simply sitting at a long table, ignoring one another and simultaneously making phone calls--but somehow it works. The group of 12 is working to fundraise for a production of Shakespeare's The Tempest, which is really their own story. (The superheroes were merely spirits on Prospero's island a few hundred years ago.) They're trying to answer some philosophical questions about themselves, and their thirst for art has a higher purpose.

You don't need to know much about The Tempest going in. They'll explain it all to you. (But just in case, there's a handy description in the program.)

The Fathom Town Enforcers aren't your typical Marvel squad, though. One heroically untangles. Another will outdrink you, probably. Then there's one who makes shadow puppets and another needs nothing but a fragrance. They're so desperate for funding, the heroes are willing to reveal their alter-egos for $50.

The cast of 12 features Rebecca Brown Adelman as Rebecca Lloyd/The Ocean/Gonzalo, Joan Bruemmer-Holden as Cecily Grey/The Page/Prospero, Stephen Geering as Oliver Kendell/Fragrance Fellow/Sebastian, Meridith C. Grundei as Emory Lawson/Ariel/Ariel, Susan Harrison as Diana Blake/The Bad Map/Trinculo, Ben Hilzer as Brad Allen/The Snow-Heavy Branch/Alonso, Verl Hite as Wayne Simon/The Untangler/Caliban, Elgin Kelley as Donna Adams/The Silhouette/All Masque Characters, Laura Lounge as Susan Tanner/Memory Lass/Miranda, Trina Magness as Dale Clark/The Intoxicator/Stephano, Jason Maxwell as Craig Cale/The Pleaser/Antonia, Joe Von Bokern as Randell James/The Tune/Ferdinand.

That's 12 actors playing superheroes, with alter-egos, also playing characters in the Bard's play...but I promise, it's not as hard to follow as you'd expect. You've got director Amanda Berg Wilson to thank for her eloquent conduction of Maher's multifaceted book. The cast members' lines flow like a lyrical choreography, enhanced by Ryan Wentworth's lighting design. Costumer Annabel Reader helps makes each superhero unforgettable.

For anyone who's ever attempted to put on a production...or even tried to fundraise over the phone, this piece brings a realistic wit and dark humor to the process.

The Catamounts' production of Mickle Maher's Spirits to Enforce plays Boulder's Dairy Center for the Arts through Oct 17. Saturdays are at 7pm and followed by a community meal featuring a special release beer from Wild Woods Brewery and show-inspired fare from Heirloom Food Truck. Fridays as well as Oct. 12 (pre-show beer included),15 and 16 are at 8pm. Oct. 11 is at 4pm with pre-show cocktail included. For tickets, go to www.thecatamounts.org, the Dairy Center Box office link at tickets.thedairy.org/Online/Spirits or call (303)444-SEAT.

Playwright Maher will be joining the Catamounts for post-show talkbacks on Friday and Saturday, Oct 9 and 10.

Photos by Michael Ensminger

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