Bas Bleu closes out season with ‘A Walk In The Woods’

An unlikely friendship between a most unlikely pair

Fort Collins’ Bas Bleu Theatre closes out its 29^th season with a short, three-week run of Lee Blessing’s modern classic A Walk In The Woods. This two-person show is surprisingly funny and touching at the same time. The two actors feel made for these parts, with David Siever cunningly playing Andrey Botvinnik, a Russian diplomat. Siever is endearing as he plays the outwardly naive, yet inwardly strategic Andrey. Saffron Henke  plays his younger and more determined counterpart, American negotiator Joanne Honeyman.

If this doesn’t sound like the play you thought it would be, you are not alone. When I first saw this was coming to Bas Bleu, I was thrilled and somewhat perplexed that there was a play based on the book of the same name by Bill Bryson. How could there be a play based on one man walking the Appalachian trail? Turns out, it is a different story altogether.

But still a similar question remained, how could one play about a walk in the woods be even mildly entertaining? The answer is by pairing a strong, careful, and deliberate script with two superb actors worthy of the roles. Blessing knocked it out of the park creating an engaging and thoughtful script, while director Noah Racey cast and led two actors with incredible chemistry on stage.

Taking place on a simple stage with only trees, a narrow path, and a bench A Walk In The Woods tells the story of a Russian diplomat and an American negotiator as they meet away from the negotiation table for a walk in the woods in Geneva, Switzerland.

The plot is loosely based on the true story from 1982, where negotiators on either side paused official negotiations for “a walk in the woods.” During that stroll, a breakthrough between the two sides was made, only to later be rejected by their governments.

Often this play is cast with two men, but Racey makes the bold and timely decision to cast Honeyman as a woman, going from John to Joanne. (Carbondale’s Thunder River Theatre did the same a few years back.) And Henke fills the role with expertise as she plays the new-to-the-scene negotiator sent to replace the previously unsuccessful one. She is determined, fresh, angry, and ultimately unrelenting as she tries to reach an agreement with Andrey.

Andrey, having been at this job for a long while, is playful and friendly and doesn’t seem to take Honeyman all that seriously, leading to a lot of her anger. But ultimately, as the two meet time and again for a walk in the woods, agreements are made, beyond treaties and proposals.

With only a three-week run, you will need to be sure to mark this in your calendar. This play is a fun, seemingly simple, yet actually complex commentary about how the places we come from are not everything that we are.