TO THE DEATH
Shakespeare to the Death
Join Spark as we present famous death scenes from Shakespeare plays. Each audience gets to decide the order of the scenes, so it’s never the same show twice! A Spark Theater Original.
The Regional Premiere of Death by Design
What happens when you mix the brilliant wit of Noel Coward with the intricate plotting of Agatha Christie? Set during a weekend in an English country manor in 1932, Death by Design is a delightful and mysterious “mash-up” of two of the greatest English writers of all time.
Edward Bennett, a playwright, and his wife Sorel Bennett, an actress, flee London and head to Cookham after a disastrous opening night. But various guests arrive unexpectedly — a conservative politician, a fiery socialist, a nearsighted ingenue, a zany modern dancer — each with a long-held secret. When one of the guests is murdered, it’s left to Bridgit, the feisty Irish maid with a macabre interest in homicide, to solve the crime. Death by Design is more than homage — it’s a new classic!
Dracula
This spooky play chronicles Count Dracula’s journey to England, his stalking of two young women, and his pursuit and eventual defeat by the heroines’ suitors and their associates.
Miracle on 34th Street
A heartwarming holiday story. “This is a tale that we want to believe in, that creates a world we seem to desperately desire, free of the blatant commercialism that surrounds us, where love and decency and generosity of spirit are their own rewards. What we want the holidays to be all about, really.”
By chance, Kris Kringle, an old man in a retirement home, gets a job working as Santa for Macy’s. Kris unleashes waves of good will with Macy’s customers and the commercial world of New York City by referring parents to other stores to find exactly the toy their child has asked for. Seen as deluded and dangerous by Macy’s vocational counselor, who plots to have Kris shanghaied to Bellevue Psychiatric Hospital, Kris ends up in a court competency hearing. Especially at stake is one little girl’s belief in Santa. In a dramatic decision, the court confirms Kris as the true Santa, allowing Susan and countless other children to experience the joy of childhood fantasy.
Proof
On the eve of her twenty-fifth birthday, Catherine, a troubled young woman, has spent years caring for her brilliant but unstable father, a famous mathematician. Now, following his death, she must deal with her own volatile emotions; the arrival of her estranged sister, Claire; and the attentions of Hal, a former student of her father’s who hopes to find valuable work in the 103 notebooks that her father left behind. Over the long weekend that follows, a burgeoning romance and the discovery of a mysterious notebook draw Catherine into the most difficult problem of all: How much of her father’s madness — or genius — will she inherit?
SHOWCASE
Colorado Playwright’s New Play Showcase
Spark presents three all new, original plays by local Colorado playwrights:
- Stage Fright by Lauren Woodbury
- Dot Gone by Max Cabot
- The Banzai Package by Russell Weisfeld