The ’80s were known for big hair, daring fashion and MTV, but a Boulder theater troupe is challenging audiences to take off their rose-colored glasses and see past the nostalgia.
Talking With…, produced by VIVA Theater, features 11 women performers delivering raw, unfiltered monologues about navigating the choppy seas of life in 1981.
Penned by Jane Martin and first staged at the Manhattan Theatre Club in 1982, the play casts a spotlight on the lives, dreams and struggles of women from the era. Under the direction of Abigail Wright, VIVA’s artistic director since early 2023, this collection of stories combines the profound with the humorous.
Wright’s journey from a young director facing gender-based discrimination to the helm of VIVA Theater underscores the thematic resonance between Talking With… and her own life.
“In 1981, I could not find work as a director because there were no female directors. I couldn’t get a credit card. We had landline phones at home. A lot of things are just very different in our day-to-day lives,” she says. “VIVA people are older, so they lived through those times, and I want to give a chance for our audience to remember what that was like as well.”
Founded in 2002, VIVA Theater is Boulder’s only community theater dedicated to providing opportunities to older thespians. Talking With… offers a rich playground for VIVA’s cast.
The play’s structure, a patchwork of monologues ranging from a woman’s desire to live in McDonald’s to a rodeo star’s existential crisis, caters to VIVA’s logistical and artistic sensibilities. On a practical level, the play’s structure — 11 monologues requiring minimal ensemble rehearsal — suited the logistical challenges of winter scheduling. Thematically, it’s a chance to reevaluate our relationship to the past.
“I think we forget how different the world of the ’80s was from now; time can sometimes distort those changes,” Wright says. “We don’t remember what it was like to live without the Internet or in a New York that hadn’t been decimated by AIDS — Talking With… allows us to reexamine that era.”
Time capsule, cracked open
Wright hopes to weave the individual stories into a cohesive tapestry by interspersing period-specific music performed by former Denver rock ’n’ roll singer Paula Westerfield between monologues, inviting the audience on a reflective journey back in time with hits like “Girls Just Want To Have Fun.”
Representing a mosaic of experiences and backgrounds, the cast brings a palpable authenticity to the production. Judy Richtel, the VIVA board president who portrays the “bag lady” with dreams of McDonald’s sanctuary, draws on her past as the head of community resources for Boulder County and counselor at the People’s Clinic to portray a character whose desires are simple: safety and belonging.
“I’ve known people like my character, so it wasn’t as hard to step into her shoes,” Richtel says. “All she wants is safety. That is how I see her; so many of her comments are about finding a safe space, and she has chosen McDonald’s as hers, which is fine, but she does some magical thinking that results in some amusing moments.”
Jane Shepard, stepping into the cowboy boots of a veteran rodeo worker whose boss wants her to dress up like Minnie Mouse, brings a lifetime of physical and emotional experience to the role. From her Boulder childhood riding horses to her professional pivot from acting to playwriting in the face of industry bias, Shepard embodies the spirit of transition and identity that runs through the production.
“My character is an Oklahoma gal who is going through a loss of identity, and I certainly have been through that,” Shepard says. “It’s not fun to call it up, but it’s also kind of healing to find an expression for those feelings through this character.”
Seeing yourself onstage
As VIVA Theater continues to champion older adults’ artistic expressions, Wright says she doesn’t want the organization to rest on its laurels. She has no desire to compete with “big organizations like BETC or Local Theater, which are much more professionally minded –— VIVA is community theater, but quality community theater.”
The organization is currently working to develop a program called Theater Lab, which teaches acting, stagecraft, directing and playwriting and concludes with a small show put on by participants. In addition to Theater Lab, its well-received acting class taught by local actor Anne Sandoe and performances in retirement homes and libraries are part of VIVA’s efforts to help other older people stay engaged with their craft and community.
“Since we have mostly older audiences and performers, they get to see themselves reflected onstage,” Wright says. “It’s older people talking about experiences they may have lived through, instead of seeing a whole bunch of 20-year-olds talking about stuff that matters to 20-year-olds. VIVA stories are relevant to their lives and build community through the medium of theater.”
ON STAGE: Talking With… March 22-7, Dairy Arts Center, 2590 Walnut St., Boulder. $25-$30