- Mastodon
- by Terri Draeger
- May 24, 2010 at 7pm
- Directed by Terry Dodd
- In Mastodon, the discovery of a fossilized mastodon on a western Kansas farm triggers an upheaval in the static lives of the couple who own and work the land. For Verna Blandin, hemmed in by the constraints of her quiet, rural existence, the fossil serves as a reminder of the impermanence of life. Her husband, Leonard, views it as yet another obstacle in a life filled with disappointments. Their conflicting ideas of what should become of the fossil lead to an examination of marriage, the decline of the American farm and the spiritual connection to the land and what lies beneath.
- Terri Draeger has a degree in journalism from Northwestern University and has studied playwriting both at the University of Denver and with the Lighthouse Writers Workshop. In 2009 her first play A Hint of Winter was produced at Denver's Barth Hotel, directed by Terry Dodd. She is currently at work on a new play and a book, both based on themes around the modern American west.
- I Know That You Love Me
- by Broken Gopher Ink
- August 9, 2010 at 7pm
- Directed by Shelly Gaza
- I Know That You Love Me is fourteen scenes between men and women, examining multiple facets of the same stone via drama, comedy, song, and monologue. These snapshots are savage and hilarious, disturbing and familiar. I Know That You Love Me is a vaudeville of the sexes and a zoetrope of the heart.
- Broken Gopher Ink are a pair of humble westerners whose delightfully crude and vicious plays have been produced in the United States and abroad. No one is sure who they are, but their mega-monologue play, My Heart and the Real World, received eight separate off-Broadway productions and two UK shows.
- Mynx and Savage
- by Rebecca Gorman
- November 1, 2010 at 7pm
- Directed by Taylor Gonda
- Mynx & Savage is a tri-level story of a comic book writer, the characters of his superhero story, and the creatures of his "serious" work. When corporate powers start pushing him to produce, he is torn between the comfort of fantasy and the necessary truth.
- Rebecca Gorman holds a B.A. in Drama and English from Dartmouth College and an M.F.A. in Dramatic Writing from Carnegie Mellon University. Rebecca is an English professor at Metro State College of Denver, where she teaches playwriting and screenwriting, Cinema studies, and the Graphic Novel. Her plays have been produced in modest theaters from New Hampshire to California.
All Trench readings are free and open to the public and are followed by a brief mediated talk back and refreshments.
