STAGE TURNER

Broomfield Community Players kick off 2023 season with psychological mystery-thriller ‘Cat’s Cradle’

BY TONI TRESCA

In an effort to raise the standard of living in Broomfield, the city and county surveyed residents in 2015 about their opinions on local amenities. The report found that although community members were satisfied with the caliber of the art events taking place in the area, they wished there were more options available.

“City officials noticed from people’s comments that we didn’t have a local theater company, and people wished we did,” says Jo Ramsey, chairperson for Broomfield Community Players’ executive team and director of its production of Cat’s Cradle, the mystery thriller kicking off its 2023 season on April 27. “Karen Garrity [former cultural affairs manager for the City and County of Broomfield] put out a notice in the paper saying people interested in theater should come to an open call to discuss creating a new theater group in the community.”

From this meeting in the spring of 2016, the Broomfield Community Players (BCP) was formed as an all-volunteer group. Garrity convinced the city to fully fund BCP’s first production, The Importance of Being Earnest, the following fall. But shortly after launching BCP, Garrity accepted a position in another city, which left the theater without a direct line to the local government.

In order to keep the group going, BCP became a program of the Broomfield Council on the Arts and Humanities (BCAH). The entity was established in 1973, and the City Council designated it “Broomfield’s official arts organization” when it was granted tax-exempt status the following year. In addition to presenting its own programming, BCAH also aids the efforts of over 20 nonprofit groups involved in arts, culture and civic engagement.

“[BCP] is a program of the Council, which means they are our fiscal agency and help with things like liability insurance and some other nitty-gritty business stuff,” says Russ Ramsey, who is married to Jo and the production manager for Cat’s Cradle. “[BCAH] doesn’t subsidize us, but when they apply for grants, we sometimes get a little piece of that. We are not vastly profitable, but we have always been profitable enough to be able to do another show.”

BCP has produced 13 shows since 2016 that have primarily featured Broomfield residents but have also drawn talent from Boulder, Westminster, Lafayette, Aurora, Denver and Centennial. In its sevenyear history, BCP has incorporated 136 actors onstage, 156 production and technical staff members backstage and welcomed thousands of audience members to performances at the Broomfield Auditorium.

“We are focused on offering an opportunity for people in our community to get involved in local theater, and providing residents with affordable, high-quality entertainment without having to drive to Boulder or Denver,” Russ says. “I feel like we have done a good job fulfilling our mission by involving almost 300 people from the area in our productions.”

‘THEY WERE HUNGRY FOR SOMETHING MORE’

Like many community theaters in the area, BCP’s programming is largely made up of family-friendly comedies like Plaza Suite and Deathtrap. But they started hearing from actors and audience members who wanted more drama and mystery plays in future seasons.

“People love a fun night out at the theater, but they were hungry for something more,” Jo says. “So, I started looking for the right play. I had read a lot of Agatha Christie’s stories, and, while I love her writing, I wanted to do a mystery that was a little less convoluted. Cat’s Cradle is not a known play … but we brought a bunch of shows to the table, and all agreed this was a tightly written psychological drama that would resonate with the community.”

Set in an old coach house in the English countryside, Leslie Sands’ 1983 play tells the story of an almost forgotten kidnapping, and possible murder that went unsolved by Inspector Frost, the policeman assigned to the case. Haunted by his failure to apprehend the perpetrator, Frost returns to the area to reopen the investigation, but he quickly discovers that the locals are withholding information from him. As Frost dives deeper into the mystery, justice is served, but at what cost?

“What we all liked about the play was that it has a plausible ending that is just unpredictable,” says Russ. “The script also includes some fascinating ideas about how power operates in a community, and heartfelt remarks on aging.”

If you want to find out how this compelling psychological thriller ends, you should consider buying tickets soon because Cat’s Cradle is only performing at the Broomfield Auditorium for one weekend, and its final performance is almost sold out.

“I am hoping the audience will have the same reaction that we did as we read the script,” says Jo. “You won’t know how it unfolds until the final moments of the show, but afterward, you’ll realize there was no other way. People should plan to grab a coffee or a cocktail after the show because they will need to talk about how the ending affected them with other people; it is that shocking.”

ON STAGE: Cat’s Cradle by Leslie Sands. April 27 and 28 at 7 p.m., and April 29 at 2 p.m. Broomfield Auditorium, 3 Community Park Road. $25