Two Cent Lion Theatre is out with another powerful, original play
In Loving Memory starts out as sort of a goofy premise. After all, we are invited to a celebration of the life of Mr. Squirrel. Yes, that Mr. Squirrel — the one we see outside our window or that our dog chases incessantly. But this goofy piece turns deadly serious and quickly lives up to its headline of “A Queer Tragicomedy.” Written by Kevin Douglas and directed by Gracie Jacobson, In Loving Memory is a searing 30-minute theatrical piece being presented by Two Cent Lion Theatre Company as a preview of shows at the Denver Fringe Festival June 8-11.
We are greeted at the door by Andi (Izzy Chern), a queer teen hosting this celebration of life. Andi is clearly distressed and asks if we knew Mr. Squirrel, thus beginning the immersive quality of this production. We are now part of the performance as grieving community members, having been invited to attend this celebration for Mr. Squirrel. Still unsure of the connection between Andi and Mr. Squirrel, we are treated to several minutes of very amusing tongue-in-cheek banter with the audience and Andi surrounding Mr. Squirrel’s death.
Having entered the makeshift church, in this case, the White Studio Theatre at the University of Denver, we are handed funeral pamphlets recounting the life of Mr. Squirrel, along with other pertinent information. (My favorite being not to touch the snacks until after the service). Andi is wearing an oversized man’s suit and is nervously controlling the music level with a phone. Andi begins to report about their life versus that of the dead Mr. Squirrel, and they are not a happy camper. Even amid all this drama, however, Andi does have time to flirt with a member of the audience and perhaps even set up a pizza date for later. Finally, Andi zeroes in on the real significance of Mr. Squirrel’s life and untimely demise as it relates to theirs. The “denouement” has been revealed and Andi flees from the space never to be seen again by a stunned audience.
Izzy Chern as Andi gives a complex and winning performance. Initially called upon to use improvisational skills, Chern is equally adept in that arena as with scripted dialogue. We genuinely feel their pain for Mr. Squirrel, only to discover that the pain really resides in Andi’s own existence. They have given us a glimpse into a very troubled teen who is on the brink of some sort of collision course with their own reality.
Gracie Jacobson is the director and has beautifully orchestrated a very emotional and affecting 30 minutes of theatre. At no time is there a dishonest moment between Andi and the audience and she clearly understands the playwright’s intention for the flow of the piece. Moving from improvisation to scripted dialogue, Jacobson renders the same honesty called upon throughout the piece with no demarcation.
As written by Kevin Douglas, In Loving Memory is a solid play with very specific intentions — grabbing the audience immediately through improvisation and ultimately with volatile dialogue leading the character and audience to an emotional summit of epic proportions. His writing is both strong and thought-provoking.
I would be remiss if I did not mention the past successes of Two Cent Lion Theatre Company. In a little more than a year, the company has presented several very well-received productions including Clink, Clink and Off the Gradient. I had the pleasure of reviewing their production of Off the Gradient calling it “an exceptional work encompassing the human condition.” This trio of talented University of Denver grads Izzy, Kevin, and Gracie has exploded onto the Denver theatre scene with very reverent productions written by and featuring members of the LGBTQ+ community and has done so again with In Loving Memory.
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