Time to make New Year’s “Resolutions” at The Edge
There’s nothing holly-jolly about “Resolutions,” the commissioned seasonal piece by local playwright Josh Hartwell having its world premiere at The Edge. This play is brisk and funny, also rather arch and ultimately terrifying. Think of it as a refreshing antidote to every saccharine holiday show you’ve endured over the years. ★★★¼
Set in a Vail house on New Year’s Eve, the uninterrupted 85 minutes relate an annual gathering of friends, fueled by martinis and memories. It seems this year’s reunion will be slightly different than in years past due to some ended relationships.
Dellen (Emily Paton Davies) is hosting her crew of theater folks and her current boyfriend in the Vail home that once belonged to the parents of her ex-husband.
Glad to be rid of her ex, Randall, and not sorry to have won the house in the divorce, Dellen gossips and drinks with best buddy Greg (Scott McLean),
who is unhappily detached from his husband.
Dellen can’t stand the idea of making New Year’s resolutions, doesn’t even want to hear the word. But the time is coming.
You know how New Year’s resolutions go — something like 8 percent of people actually keep them, whether involving jobs, relationships or weight loss. The rest of us routinely violate our promises to ourselves sometime between the ball drop in Times Square and February.
(Resolved: no spoilers in theater reviews. That’s one I can keep.)
So Dellen readies the place for company as she and Greg await the arrival of Dellen’s young beau Trevor (Drew Hischboeck), and their longtime friends Mindy (Karen Slack) and Peter (the elastic Andrew Uhlenhopp), now owners of a pot shop in Denver.
There are plenty of secrets these longtime friends harbor, to be revealed as the countdown to midnight proceeds, and a crazy-smart twist that pivots in a surprising direction. It seems each of the friends made a New Year’s resolution at the previous year’s gathering that now reverberates with dark irony as an unwanted guest makes an appearance.
Hartwell doles out humor and suspense with equal finesse and clever pacing, keeping the audience guessing. There’s an almost cinematic feel to some of the action in director Missy Moore’s successful bid to keep the tension building. Effective sound design by Kenny Storms includes a Siri-like computer voice responding to commands. The set, complete with antler chandelier, bar, fireplace and window to the exterior, conveys an upscale mountain retreat. Hilarious and scary props add chills.
Amid the clever banter, Hartwell lands easy digs at Vail — home to “greedy, selfimportant, materialistic Barbie and Ken dolls” — a stab at Aurora and some riffing on regifting. It’s all entertainingly droll until he masterfully shifts gears and takes the audience for an unforgettable ride.
The cast is uniformly worthy, each exploring wildly ranging emotions within their characters, all the while exchanging self-deprecating knocks on theater people.
Davies evinces a knowing air along with vulnerability in her depiction of Dellen, a former dancer. McLean has fun flaunting a proudly queer persona as Greg. Uhlenhopp wins laughs as aging hippie Peter, who is routinely stoned. Karen Slack digs into the flamboyant role of Mindy, Peter’s wife who has recently been cast in an upcoming local production — but don’t tell Peter, who believes she’s quit acting. Hischboeck succeeds in a physically demanding role as Trevor. And Jonathan Brown is credible as the vengeful, insane Randall.
It’s not typical holiday treacle, thank goodness. Let the countdown begin.