Kumail Nanjiani on the things he likes and the reclaiming nerd-dom

Kumail Nanjiani isn’t exactly your typical comedian. Where most spend their time complaining about things they hate, Nanjiani attacks the things he loves, which happens to be activities of a decidedly nerdy persuasion: Videogames, horror and science fiction all have a place in his routine. You’ll be able to find…

Colorado Ballet announces its next season, anchored with standards

When the Colorado Ballet left me a care package yesterday inviting me to a press conference announcing its 2011-2012 season, along with a very pretty box containing one milk-chocolate swan and one white-chocolate swan, it didn’t exactly leave a whole lot of intrigue as to what would be on the…

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Ruined. One of the most troubled and lawless places in the world right now is the Democratic Republic of the Congo — and if everyone’s life there is hell, Congolese women, raped and mutilated by the thousands, are condemned to the lowest circle. In attempting a play about the plight…

Five Course Love is pure, diverting pleasure

It’s near the beginning of Five Course Love, and we’re in a gaudy barbecue joint with a big “You’ll (Heart) Our Wings” sign on the wall. The sound system — as always in the Garner Galleria Theatre — is set way, way too loud, so that it distorts both high…

A conversation with Garrett Ammon and Alex Ketley

Ballet Nouveau Colorado’s innovative season draws to a close this weekend with a program of four brand-spankin’-new pieces, one by BNC artistic director Garrett Ammon, one by company artist Jason Franklin, and one each by guest choreographers Maurya Kerr and Alex Ketley. We caught up with Ammon and Ketley to…

Ladies Laugh-In at Beauty Bar moves to Thursday Night

It’s pretty evident from the headline, but the Ladies Laugh-In monthly comedy showcase has moved from the third Wednesday of every month to the third Thursday. Comedian and Laugh-In coordinator Heather Snow says it was a simple matter of the new night freeing up, and a desire to not compete…

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Fiction. In the first scene of Fiction, two people argue and flirt in a Paris cafe. They seem entirely familiar with each other; their argument, though heightened and intensely clever, still has the comfortable, teasing, accustomed rhythms you expect of a conversation between lovers. But in the second scene we…

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Fiction. In the first scene of Fiction, two people argue and flirt in a Paris cafe. They seem entirely familiar with each other; their argument, though heightened and intensely clever, still has the comfortable, teasing, accustomed rhythms you expect of a conversation between lovers. But in the second scene we…

Lynn Nottage illuminates the plight of Congolese women in Ruined

One of the most troubled and lawless places in the world right now is the Democratic Republic of Congo, suffering the malign aftermath of colonial rule, riven by inner conflict, the site of proxy wars involving neighboring countries, and made particularly dangerous by the presence in its soil of rich…

Now Playing

Fiction. In the first scene of Fiction, two people argue and flirt in a Paris cafe. They seem entirely familiar with each other; their argument, though heightened and intensely clever, still has the comfortable, teasing, accustomed rhythms you expect of a conversation between lovers. But in the second scene we…

Now Playing

Fiction. In the first scene of Fiction, two people argue and flirt in a Paris cafe. They seem entirely familiar with each other; their argument, though heightened and intensely clever, still has the comfortable, teasing, accustomed rhythms you expect of a conversation between lovers. But in the second scene we…

Homebody/Kabul is a large and raggedly ambitious work

The greatest strength of Tony Kushner’s Homebody/Kabul lies in the hour-long opening monologue, in which an eccentric British housewife, holding an outdated guidebook to Kabul, tries to get her arms around the great, rich, anguished and turbulent mystery that is Afghanistan. Surrounded by people of diverse cultures and religions, sequentially…