Playbill: Three Front Range Plays and Performances for August 12-16

Global pageantry, dance and history, and a hilarious comedy all have a place on local stages this week, whisking you off to faraway places or taking on all-American pop-culture controversies. Here are the details:

Terracotta Warriors 3-D
Newman Center for the Performing Arts
Through September 6
8 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays
2:30 and 8 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays
Tickets start at $39
303-871-7720
Former Denver surgeon Dennis Law first staged his “action musical” Terracotta Warriors — based on the story of China’s second century B.C. Emperor Qin and told through dance, martial arts and lush period costuming by an army of Chinese performers— more than a decade ago, but since then, he’s improved the spectacle with the addition of some 21st-century technology. The new, improved Terracotta Warriors 3-D boasts stunning effects via a sophisticated LED-light backdrop that is viewed by the audience through 3-D glasses.
Broads Theatre, Matt & Ben
Carsen Theatre, Dairy Center for the Arts
8:30 p.m. Thursday, August 13
6:30 p.m. Friday, August 14
6:30 p.m. Saturday, August 15
7 p.m. Sunday, August 16
8 p.m. Wednesday, August 19
6:30 p.m. Thursday, August 20
8:30p.m. Friday, August 21
Tickets: $13 to $16 in advance, $15 to $18 at the door
A two-person comedy from the writing team of Brenda Withers and Mindy Kaling, Matt & Ben pokes fun at the meteoric rise of Matt Damon and Ben Affleck, the hungry auteurs behind Good Will Hunting, by placing the characters in an alternative universe. A pair of female actors — Sarah Adler and Bernadette Sefic of Broads Theatre — play Matt and Ben, and that’s just the start of the strangeness. Matt & Ben plays in repertory through August 20 with Kelsey Huff’s Ranch Dressing & Other Coping Mechanisms at the Dairy. Visit Broad Theatre online for more about the troupe.

TRAILER: Gyaan… Truth Through Knowledge from Mudra Dance Studio on Vimeo.

Mudra Dance Studio, Gyaan…Truth Through Knowledge 
Lakewood Cultural Center
8 p.m. Friday, August 14
5 p.m. Saturday, August 15
2 p.m. Sunday, August 16
Tickets: $20 to $30
Aurora-based Mudra Dance brings back a cultural spectacle of its own by restaging Gyaan…Truth Through Knowledge, a powerful and heartwarming evening of Indian dance enhanced by beautiful costumes and sets, at the Lakewood Cultural Center. A work that can be appreciated by all ages (there is some implied mature content), Gyaan includes live musicians and poignant life-changing themes.

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