On the road with ‘The Making of a Great Moment’

Millibo Art Theatre production is a fun comedic confection

A number of silly moments add up to something pretty great in Millibo Art Theatre’s (MAT) new production of The Making of a Great Moment. Peter Sinn Nachtrieb’s widely performed 2017 comedy chronicles the journey of two actors who bicycle across the North American hinterlands on a mission to bring the power of theatre to the masses.

Terry Dean and Mona Barnes make their way through retirement villages and community theaters, performing a play that supposedly presents great moments in human progress. The pair’s adventures on the road alternate with their play, which is mostly short monologues. Road and theatrical experiences, such as the importance of improvising, mirror each other.

Unfortunately, the great moments are mostly made-up, the theatrical venues are unreliable and there’s no guarantee they’ll make it to the next town. Worse, Terry and Mona get wind that some of their one-time colleagues are enjoying commercially successful theatrical ventures. Inevitably, they wonder if a bicycling theatre company is really such a good idea?

Michael Lee and Anna Faye Hunter in ‘The Making of a Great Moment,’ playing at Millibo Art Theatre in Colorado Springs through March 24

A strong pairing

As Terry and Mona, Colorado Springs theatre veterans Michael Lee and Anna Faye Hunter make a great duet. Their exchanges, often highly choreographed, call to mind Rogers and Astaire on the dance floor as much as acting. Their timing is spot on, as when they swerve in unison to avoid a nail in the road. Their energy never flags.

Mona believes in the power of theatre to transform lives, and Hunter moves the character convincingly from idealistic optimism to disappointed fury. Even her gestures, which often have a balletic quality, work to persuade us of the depth of Mona’s passion.

Terry Dean is the more downbeat of the pair and Michael Lee’s deadpan responses to Mona’s over the top positivity are on target. Lee also shines with a variety of accents in the monologues displaying the pair’s theatrical efforts.

Director Jim Jackson, co-founder of MAT, has delivered a polished production that zips along. One of the highlights of the second act is a speedy succession of monologues by characters proclaiming their contributions to human progress. The actors and the MAT production team made it a speedy tour de force through a dizzying array of characters and a matching set of props. No one missed a beat.

Unlike the hit-or-miss stage crews that Mona and Terry must survive, MAT’s light and sound production served the play and the performances quite well. In particular, the climax of the play, which involves bikes and duct tape, is accompanied by a thrilling orchestral soundtrack that adds to both the suspense and the amusement.

The plot of Nachtrieb’s play is quite lean, barely a step removed from sketch comedy. Fortunately, the comedy is genuinely funny and if one joke doesn’t quite spark, another is right behind it. The only letdown is at the end of the play, which feels rushed. The decisions the characters make are consistent with what we’ve seen of the two, but the new directions still feel abrupt.

When the spotlight goes out on The Making of a Great Moment you may have a sensation akin to consuming cotton candy. It disappears as soon as it’s tasted. But who doesn’t love some air and colored sugar sometimes?