‘Downstate’ is gut-punching drama at its finest

Bruce Norris’ play features an A-list cast in the uncomfortable realm Curious Theatre thrives in.

In Downstate, Bruce Norris delivers a hard-hitting drama shocking and tough to watch. Currently at Denver’s Curious Theatre, this play is also thought-provoking, painful and darkly funny. It’s the kind of production that makes you question your own beliefs, and by the end, I felt it was one of the best plays I’d ever seen.

Downstate covers rough material, including pedophilia, child abuse, suicide and statutory rape. Set in Downstate, Illinois, this story follows four men forced to live together in a halfway house after serving time in prison for their crimes involving sexual acts with children. For these men, daily life is a struggle. Their every move is tracked to protect the community, they mostly dislike each other, and they’re regularly threatened. They can’t even go to the grocery store because it’s too close to a school (even though children would have to cross a highway to get to it). It’s nearly impossible for these ex-cons to live in society, yet they have no choice.

Christy Montour-Larson’s directing shines in this play, successfully tackling the seemingly impossible task of empathizing with the convicted pedophiles. Norris (who also wrote Clybourne Park now at the Arvada Center), starts Act I with maximum drama: Andy faces his childhood abuser more than 15 years later. But the scene isn’t all shouting and anger; it’s a mix of emotions that the actors portray with great pacing and delivery.

As Andy, Sean Scrutchins, struggles during this confrontation while his abuser, Fred (Jim Hunt), offers gentle encouragement and some refreshments. Hunt sits back with a placid smile during the ordeal while Scrutchins looks like he’s being ripped apart. The intensity and dichotomy between that heartbreak and entertainment continue throughout this drama in every scene.

The acting for this play is all upstate, with an all-star lineup of Colorado talent. What could’ve been cliché characters – the angry Black man, the well-meaning but hard-nosed cop and the doddering old man – are fleshed out and acted so convincingly they defy stereotypes.

From left, Sean Scrutchins, Rakeem Lawrence and Cajardo Lindsey. Photo: McLeod9 Creative

A wealth of powerful performances

Carjardo Lindsey (Dee) is impeccable as a gay, Black man who’s mostly unapologetic for his life and his crime. He delivers lines with sass and sincerity, even as he defends his relationship with a 14-year-old boy. His conviction to Dee is so engaging that I questioned whether Lindsey’s character was sincere about that relationship, and I’m a protective mother of a teen. As Fred, Hunt is also exceptional. His sweet and quirky older man is lovable despite molesting two 12-year-olds. I found Fred more endearing than his victim (Andy). There’s a goodness to Fred that’s hard to ignore, despite his past evils. The character is written well, but the actor added ticks, a soothing voice and a plastered smile to make him more likable and sympathetic.

Rakeem Lawrence (Gio) portrays a black man who both rages and amuses. Lawrence sells the audience that Gio’s a man who is unjustly accused and perhaps the only “innocent” person in the group home. As Andy, the versatile Scrutchins is on his game as a troubled, over-managed and over-privileged white man. Even his rage against his abuser seems misplaced, as if the character suffers from darker issues – the inability to be “special.”

Downstate isn’t just a city; it’s their state of being – they’re all literally in a state of decay. The house has carpet stains, mismatched chairs and unpainted wall patches; it’s purposefully depressing, thanks to set designer Caitlin Ayer.

The play is perfectly executed and takes us where drama excels — a place of discomfiture, amusement and beauty. We meet characters we may despise in real life but who force us to accept and rethink their humanity.