Review: THE RESERVOIR at Alliance Theatre Embraces the Light Alongside the Shadow

Written by Jake Brasch and directed by Shelley Butler, the three-theatre, co-production, world-premiere of THE RESERVOIR arrives on the heels of its presentation as a finalist for the Alliance/Kendeda National Graduate Playwriting Competition. Alliance Theatre, the Denver Center Theatre Company, and The Geffen Playhouse in Los Angeles have combined efforts to support this new story THE DENVER POST calls "remarkably layered and intricate" and the playwright charming its audiences with perfect "timing, wit, and emotional frankness.” The RESERVOIR runs on the Herts Stage, March 29 – May 4, 2025. 

THE RESERVOIR is a story about a young adult, Josh, searching for how to walk his own path without his crushing self-doubt and substance dependencies. After dropping out of NYU, Josh returns home to Denver hoping to pull himself together—but staying sober proves harder than he thought. He finds connection and purpose comically stumbling alongside his grandparents while helping them thwart dementia by tapping into a pseudoscientific "reservoir." A bit obsessively, Josh takes on his new mission, embracing Jazzercise classes at the JCC, awkward memory games in assisted living, and strange health food interventions, employing questionable logic and exposing Josh's addictive traits. 

THE RESERVOIR cast features the exceptional Joyce Cohen, Mark Kincaid, Rodney Lizcano, Vanessa Lock, Lori Wilner, and Peter Van Wagner. Each actor brings a pitch-perfect blend of comedic timing, emotional depth, and unshakable chemistry alongside Philip Schneider, who plays Josh. Schneider moves the story through skillful direct address transitions with alluring authenticity. 

Although the stage is sparce, from the moment the lights come up, the world, feels fully realized, tactile, and teetering beautifully between reality and memory. THE RESERVOIR creative team includes scenic design by Takeshi Kata, Costume Designer Sara Ryung Clement, Lighting Designer Jeanette Oi-Suk Yew, Sound Designer Michael Costagliola, Assistant Director Jayla Dyas, and Associate Sound Designer Jake Eisner. 

"I set out to write a drama about dementia science and ended up with a semi-autobiographical comedy about recovery, family, memory, and Jazzercise,” says playwright Brasch. “Whoops!"

A refreshingly heartfelt original exploration, Brasch's work represents the power of playwriting when resources like the Alliance/Kendeda National Graduate Playwriting Competition support new perspectives that need telling as well as heard. Brasch's acute observations—some might call "soliloquy," fresher frontal lobes might say "audible brain-chatter"—Brasch takes the shame out of the complicated living burgeoning adults are having to navigate today. Antiquated healthcare systems, mental wellness deserts, and ancestors without answers add to the tangled threads of American addictions, modern-shaped families, and the fading dreams of our oldest generation. In THE RESERVOIR, Brasch weaves a new kind of luminosity that embraces the shadows with just as much care as the light. THE RESERVOIR itself becomes Josh's reservoir through his narration and our witnessing. It lingers like a memory you don’t want to shake.

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