The Denver Center Theatre Company is excited to announce the full casting and creative team for the world premiere production of The Reservoir by Jake Brasch (our tempest, How to Draw a Triangle). The Reservoir will launch a co-production in Denver on January 17, 2025, and then transfer to Atlanta where it will start performances at the Alliance Theatre on March 29, 2025, and conclude in Los Angeles at Geffen Playhouse with performances beginning on June 18, 2025.

Denver-born playwright Jake Brasch’s The Reservoir, left audiences buzzing at the Denver Center Theatre Company’s 2023 Colorado New Play Summit (CNPS) and is continuing to achieve success throughout the American theatre. Following the 2023 CNPS, The Reservoir was named a finalist of the Alliance Theatre‘s 2024 Kendeda National Graduate Playwriting Competition and the recipient of the Social Impact Theatre Grant from The Sheri and Les Biller Family Foundation.

“Witnessing a production from the early stages of development to a full production is always such a joy, but the opportunity to be one of the theatres co-producing a playwright’s first professional production is particularly rewarding,” said Artistic Director Chris Coleman. “The Reservoir is a hilarious and heartbreaking story based in Denver that will share in the camaraderie of family and the struggles of getting through your darkest times.”

For information and tickets in Denver, visit denvercenter.org. The DCPAccess reduced-price ticket on sale for The Reservoir and The Suffragette’s Murder will take place on Wednesday, December 11 at noon. Through the DCPAccess program, made possible by citizen support of the Scientific and Cultural Facilities District (SCFD), the DCPA can provide a limited number of reduced-price tickets to the community to select DCPA productions. As the DCPA works to modernize the use of technology to better serve patrons, all DCPA ticketing (online, phones and in-person) will be unavailable the week of January 6.

The Reservoir cast in the Denver Center Theatre Company production will feature Philip Schneider (Hamlet, Yale University) as Josh, Vanessa Lock (Nest, Signature Theatre) as Patricia/Others, Rodney Lizcano (American Mariachi, DCPA) as Hugo/Others, Joyce Cohen (Benediction, DCPA) as Irene, Lori Wilner (Prayer for the French Republic, Broadway) as Beverly, Peter Van Wagner (Choir Boy, DCPA) as Shrimpy, Mark Kincaid (Carapace, Alliance Theatre) as Hank, Diana Dresser (Anna Karenina, DCPA) as Patricia Understudy, Liam McKenna (Testament, Saratoga Shakespeare Company) as Josh/Hugo Understudy, Leslie O’Carroll (A Doll’s House, DCPA) as Beverly/Irene Understudy, and Mark Rubald (Hamlet, DCPA) as Shrimpy/Hank Understudy.

The Reservoir will be directed by Shelley Butler (The Constant Wife, DCPA) with scenic design by Takeshi Kata (Water for Elephants, Broadway), costume design by Sara Ryung Clement (Rattlesnake Kate, DCPA), lighting design by Jeanette Oi-Suk Yew (Choir Boy, DCPA), sound design by Michael Costagliola (The Lehman Trilogy, Shakespeare Theatre Company), dramaturgy by Olivia O’Connor (Every Brilliant Thing, Geffen Playhouse), casting by Grady Soapes, CSA (DCPA Casting Director), Jody Feldman (Alliance Theatre Casting Director), Phyllis Schuringa, CSA (Geffen Playhouse Casting Director) and Claire Burke, CSA (Tara Rubin Casting), assistant directing by Zoe Lesser (Heroes of the Fourth Turning, New Mexico Actors Lab), and stage management by Liz Campbell (A Christmas Carol, Alliance Theatre) and Corin Davidson (I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter, DCPA).

JAKE BRASCH is a proud Denver native and a recent graduate of The Juilliard School. The Reservoir marks his professional playwriting debut. Jake is the inaugural recipient of the Terrence McNally Recovery Commission and the winner of The Vineyard Theatre’s Paula Vogel Award. He graduated from the Page 73 Writers Group and Youngblood at The Ensemble Studio Theatre. Jake is developing work with Alliance Theatre, Geffen Playhouse, Manhattan Theatre Club, The Acting Company, Farm Theater, and EST/Sloan Project. Jake has three brothers, 14 pairs of glasses, and lives in Brooklyn with his brilliant husband Tyler. BFA: NYU Tisch. Jakebrasch.com.

ABOUT THE RESERVIOR

Jan 17-Mar 9, 2025
Singleton Theatre
Directed by Shelley Butler
World Premiere
In Partnership with Alliance Theatre and Geffen Playhouse

Josh’s life is a mess. He’s come home to Denver from NYU to get his life together but can’t manage to stay sober. Struggling with fogginess, memory loss, shame, and regret, he finds unlikely allies in his four loveable grandparents.

Desperate for camaraderie, Josh resolves to bring his grandparents along with him on the road to recovery. He pressures them into playing memory games. He drags them to Jazzercise class at the JCC. He forces them to eat spinach by the handful. Eventually, he slams up against the limits of his quest. When he can no longer help his grandparents, they begin to help him.

The Reservoir, by Denver’s own Jake Brasch, left audiences buzzing at the 2023 Colorado New Play Summit. Join us for the World Premiere production of this hilarious and heartbreaking story at the DCPA next season!