Suzanne Nepi has never been one to back down from a challenge. So, when she and her husband, Mark, got COVID-19 in October 2020, she was prepared to fight. What she was not prepared for was for Mark’s case to progress so much that he would need to be hospitalized on a ventilator.
The couple was separated for weeks, including during their 30th wedding anniversary, and each went through seemingly insurmountable obstacles. Mark’s story about the experience is his to share; this is Suzanne’s story. Rather than roll over and give up, she buckles down and embraces her inner badass to find the strength to support her husband during his taxing battle with the disease.
The world premiere of The COVID Wife is powerful, poignant and painfully honest. Between the play’s breathtaking powerhouse performances and thoughtfully provocative direction, Benchmark Theatre continues to deliver high-quality theatre that you can’t see anywhere else.
Suzanne’s difficult choice to share her raw, unflinching story onstage is a gift to the Denver community. (Read my Westword article featuring interviews with Suzanne and director, Neil Truglio for more information about the real-life story and the show’s development.) Though the story may be difficult, Suzanne is a confident and comfortable narrator who guides audiences through how she survived this traumatic experience and explains what previous life events prepared her for this moment.
As you enter the theatre, the set design thrusts you into a highly liminal space with its entirely white stage; it’s highly unnatural and makes you immediately feel as if you have entered a quarantine bubble. On stage left and right, some furniture is set up on them and two TV screens hang on the wall with the phrase “Nepi Talk” displayed. This is a reference to the Ted Talk format, in which scientists, researchers, artists, and other world experts give presentations about valuable new knowledge and innovative research in their fields.
The “Nepi Talk” framing device eases you into the dramatic elements of her true story while also allowing her to contextualize certain parts of the narrative directly to the audience. Though much of the play features serious subject matter, Suzanne’s Nepi Talk begins with a very funny joke (that I won’t spoil here!). This is the start of the play’s highly conversational tone and shatters your expectations for how a “serious show” should open. This is not just trauma for trauma’s sake; Suzanne has come to engage in a real dialogue about her experience.
Even though the Benchmark Theatre’s blackbox space is quite intimate and small, the play’s scope feels massive due to the ambitious and technically impressive direction by Neil Truglio. The play is switching between three worlds: Nepi Talk, Mark’s COVID story and various flashbacks to key moments throughout her life that inspired her and allowed her to be there for Mark. Trugilo’s background in the film industry is apparent, as the whole play has a cinematic feel to it while remaining true to the medium of live theatre and being powerfully driven by the actors onstage.
Suzanne’s lead performance is breathtakingly beautiful. She bears her soul onstage and speaks her truth. It’s honest, angry, and utterly badass. You quickly learn that “badass” is one of Suzanne’s favorite words, and it is an appropriate way to describe the Denver theatre icon. She allows us to witness her most intimate moments onstage, letting us know that there is still hope. It’s a truly inspired performance that is consistently captivating and moved me to tears.
Tanis Joaquin Gonzales played all other roles that were not Suzanne, including nurses, doctors, TV reporters, family members and other people from her real life. Gonzales is a gifted performer who plays expertly with Suzanne, skillfully shifts from character to character and elevates every scene he is in. Gonzales delivers a strong supporting performance that rounds out the claustrophobic world directed by Truglio.
Trugilo’s direction is highly cerebral and integrates multiple unique technical components – including lighting, sound, projections and filmed videos – throughout the piece to both disorient and inform throughout Suzanne’s journey. He has done a truly masterful job of using filmmaking techniques to elevate the stage experience. Along the way, Truglio also stages a Stephen King-inspired nightmare sequence, an action scene in which Suzanne writes down numbers from her doctor over the phone, a Catholic confession scene staged with shadows to perfection and precise blocking that ensures not a second of stage time is wasted.
Suzanne’s story dares you to care. Though a period of immense suffering served as the play’s impetus, Suzanne has risen like a phoenix from the ashes to deliver a warm, yet introspective, look back at the darkest moments of the pandemic as inspiration to the world moving forward.
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