CREEDE— The stage was set for the world premiere of Creede Repertory Theatre’s “General Store” as the crowd gathered for another amazing production. One of CRT’s most sought after talents is their wonderful ability to take the audience on an epic adventure, removing them from the world as they know it and tossing them into a fantasyland of myth and legend, stories and woes of the plays they act out on stage. The stage was set for another adventure into the unknown, bringing the anticipation of the coming play to the brink of possibility and began with a note by Interim Director John DiAntonio.
DiAntonio welcomed the crowd and thanked the many sponsors of the theatre for their generous donations, before stepping aside as the lights dimmed and actors took to the stage. The play was one of the two plays chosen during last year’s Headwaters Play Festival, where staff, actors and new playwrights gather to rehearse possible new plays in front of eager audiences. CRT opens their doors during the festival to the public and allows them a chance to see behind the scenes and learn about what it takes to bring a play to life. “General Store” was one that captured audiences and company members’ attention and demanded that it be put on stage.
Playwright Brian Watkins came up with the idea for “General Store”while watching friends deal with a humorously, unpredictable crisis, to which Watkins based his play. “General Store” offered the crowd a playful mix of comedy and woe, terror and strife with a twist so perfectly hidden, no one could see it coming. The basis for the play worked wonderfully in a Colorado small business setting, highlighting the struggles of surviving as a business owner in a rural community that had once thrived. In the opening speech DiAntonio pointed out the similarities between the main character’s struggle to keep a dying business afloat and those that struggle daily in small mountain towns like Creede.
The stage was in its own right, a splendid rendition of small town America, being set as a replica of a very well-known local establishment and was by far one of the best settings the theatre has come up with to date. Every detail of a small convenience store including snacks, background music and the incessant ringing phone, added to the production. The entire stage was utilized as part of the production, making the journey into the world of “General Store” an easy trip.
CRT is in its final weeks of the 52nd season, and if there is a play on the agenda to see before fall takes over the last lazy days of summer, “General Store” should be at the top of the list. “Mike’s determined to keep his faltering general store up and running and he’ll let nothing get in the way: not his two wily daughters, the trucker who thinks he’s dead, the rancher who thinks he’s dying, or even the blizzard outside. But something mysterious is under the floorboards. And it’s getting louder and hungrier. Can Mike save his American Dream from the ravenous creature beneath his store? Or should he just save himself instead? Part Sam Shepard, part Stephen King, Watkins’ writing finds an innovative and thrilling American voice all its own. The most talked-about play in Headwaters New Play Festival history will grip you until the final blackout.”