"Noah Galvin, as The Reservoir's narrator, Josh, welcomes audiences before the play begins while lying on the floor in a bright yellow shirt and bright red pants. Once the action starts, he narrates in the quippy, hyper-intelligent, and occasionally wry manner of what could be a PBS educational show, if it had room to discuss being gay and blacking out drunk in college."
"Josh's found himself, he realizes after picking himself off the ground, back home from NYU in Denver after yet another bender, lying on the beach of the titular reservoir. He talks his way out of a bleary run-in with a cop and then turns to the audience as if he's just explained how a bill becomes a law."
"He's tried to face down his disease before, as we soon learn in a prickly confrontation with his mother, and this latest relapse has frayed their relationship to nearly its breaking point. So, instead, Josh decides that he'll find ballast and stability by involving himself in the lives of his grandparents, who all live nearby and are present onstage throughout nearly all the play."
The Reservoir follows Josh, a NYU student who returns home to Denver after another drinking binge, waking up at a reservoir beach. Using a narrator's voice reminiscent of educational programming, Josh recounts his struggles with alcoholism and repeated relapses, which have strained his relationship with his mother. Rather than pursuing traditional recovery alone, Josh seeks stability by involving himself in the lives of his nearby grandparents, who remain present throughout the play. The production, directed by Shelley Butler, balances the serious subject matter of addiction with a surprisingly warm, cozy tone, featuring a colorful set design and performances from veteran theater actors portraying Josh's extended family across both Christian and Jewish sides.
#addiction-and-recovery #family-relationships #theater-production #coming-of-age-drama #mental-health
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