You Got Older
By Clare Barron

Directed by Benchmark Theatre Artistic Director Neil Truglio

February 23 - March 16, 2024
Performances are Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm with additional Sunday matinees at 2pm.

Industry Night Performance - Monday, March 4th at 8pm
(No performance on Friday, March 1st due to the First Friday art celebration along the 40West corridor.)

Mae returns home to help take care of Dad and – maybe (a little) – herself. You Got Older is a tender and darkly comic new play about family, illness, and cowboys – and how to remain standing when everything you know comes crashing down around you.

*****Adult content, language and situations (including simulated sexual acts) are seen throughout the production.
No children under the age of 15 will be permitted without a parent or guardian.*****

ACCESSIBILITY NOTE: Benchmark Theatre is an ADA-compliant facility. We have a ramp to our front door however it can be difficult to open the front door without assistance. Please contact us at info@benchmarktheatre.com to let us know how we may be of assistance for your visit and we will be sure to have our friendly box office staff available to assist or answer any questions you may have.

YOU GOT OLDER

By Clare Barron

CAST

Mae: Courtney Esser

Courtney hails from the metropolis of Pullman, WA where she is best known for originating the role of Legume #3 in the annual National Lentil Festival. As a tiny maniac child, she would drag all the living room furniture into the neighborhood street and perform wild, “self-written” shows to an audience of local passersby. Her father finally decided that he would like the living room furniture to actually stay in the living room, and marched her down to the local summer stock theatre to audition for their upcoming musical. She has since performed across the United States, working with several theatre companies in Seattle, NYC, and Denver - where she received her MFA from the National Theatre Conservatory. Locally, she has acted for the Denver Center Theatre Company, Aurora Fox, Shakespeare in the Wild, and Benchmark Theatre (2010’s Elephant). Courtney is very grateful for her Mom - who always sends her a kiss and a “merde” before a show - and for her Dad, whose desire to have his living room furniture remain intact, led to a lifetime of theatre.

Dad: Marc Stith

Cowboy: Orion Carrington

This is Orion’s second production since returning to the stage last year. Orion has been working primarily on film and television; most recently, The Cleaning Lady and Better Call Saul to name a few. He will also be featured in the upcoming A24 film Love Lies Bleeding with Kristen Stewart in theaters March 8th and horror film RSVP with Robert Ri'chard. Orion loves the gripping productions put on by Benchmark Theatre and is delighted to be welcomed into the Benchmark family.

Mac: Christopher Berghoff

Chris is happy to be working with Benchmark Theatre! He has been seen on Colorado stages at Miners Alley Playhouse in Moon Over Buffalo, Blue Ridge, A Christmas Story, and Sleepy Hollow. He has also worked locally with The Catamounts in Eddie and Dave, The Little Theatre of the Rockies in The Boys Next Door, and Polaroid Stories at The Avenue Theatre. In New York, he has been seen off-Broadway in Sum of Spectacles at TheatreRow, and he performed in Macbeth, Midsummer Nights Dream, Taming of the Shrew, and As You Like It with Barefoot Shakespeare Company. Chris is also a screenwriter and director. He owns and operates “NG6N Productions,” producing independent films in Colorado. Projects include GOOD BOY (Semi-Finalist, NYIndie Shorts Awards), Ghost Light, and his upcoming debut feature film, Nothing To Be Done (Los Angeles International Screenplay Awards - Quarter Finalist). When he’s not working in theatre or film, he’s probably fly fishing.

Hannah: Lauren Bahlman

Lauren is excited to return to Benchmark, where she was last seen on stage as Marks in Bull in a China Shop.  A resident of Colorado for over a decade, Lauren’s Denver credits include: Same Time, Next Year (Cherry Creek Theatre), August: Osage County (Vintage Theatre), theMumblings (Wide Eyed West), Hysteria (BETC), Boeing-Boeing (Town Hall Arts Center), After the Revolution (Curious Theatre), Noises Off! (Lone Tree Arts Center), and reasons to be pretty (Paragon Theatre).  While not saying words already written, Lauren improvises vintage-style with King Penny's Golden Radio Show.  Many thanks to the team at The Bench, Kevin and the pups, and to YOU for supporting the arts! 

Jenny: Jacqueline Hahn

This is Jac’s first production with Benchmark and her return back on stage here in Denver. She is so honored to be a part of such an incredible cast and hopes you enjoy the show.

Matthew: James Giordano

James is thrilled to be returning to the Benchmark stage for the regional premiere of You Got Older. He was previously seen at Benchmark in last year’s world premiere of Jeremiah. His other regional credits include Eden Prairie, 1971 (BETC) and The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (Miners Alley Playhouse). James graduated from the University of Colorado: Colorado Springs in 2022 with a degree in film and theater. He worked on various student short films that screened at the New York Independent Cinema Awards, Indie Short Fest, and Venice Shorts Film Fest. With the UCCS Theater Company, James starred in productions of A Flea in Her Ear, Everybody, As You Like It, and No Exit. At UCCS he was recognized with acting awards from both the UCCS Student Short Film Festival and from the UCCS Theater Company.

CREATIVE TEAM

Director - Neil Truglio

Intimacy Director - Ashleigh Davis

Assistant Director/Prop Design - Colby Bleicher

Scenic/Light/Sound Design - Benchmark Theatre

Costume Design - Chantelle Frazier

Clare Barron (Playwright):

Clare Barron is a playwright and actor from Wenatchee, Washington. She won the 2015 Obie Award for Playwrighting for You Got Older. She was a finalist for the 2019 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for Dance Nation.

In an interview, Barron said that she became interested in theatre in her early teens. "I was in a Shakespeare troupe for children in my hometown of Wenatchee, Washington, which was run by the playwright Heidi Schreck’s mother, Sherry Schreck." She attended the Tisch Summer Program while in high school, where she took a writing workshop. Barron graduated from Yale University. After acting for some time, she attended a workshop taught by Annie Baker and wrote a boy put this girl in a cage with a dog and the dog killed the girl. This led to Barron joining a writer's group at the Ensemble Studio Theatre.

PRODUCTION TEAM

Stage Manager - Andrew Horn

Scenic Carpenters - Stuart Barr, Andrew Horn, Tim Horn & Neil Truglio

Scenic Construction - Christopher Berghoff, John Hauser & Jackson McKinney

Rehearsal Photography - Neil Truglio & Haley Johnson

Production Photography - RDGPhotography

Producer & Front of House Management - Haley Johnson

Front of House Volunteers - Carol Bloom, Colby Bleicher, Ashleigh Davis, Dante Finley, Alicia & Tim Horn, Heidi Markley, Kate Poling, Pat Salas & Gloria Shanstrom

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

April Alsup, Rachel Clark

Haley Johnson & Gloria Shanstrom

BENCHMARK EXECUTIVE TEAM

Executive Director - Haley Johnson

Artistic Director - Neil Truglio

Strategic & Marketing Director - Marc Stith

SPECIAL THANKS

40West Arts, The E Project Board of Directors, Aurora Fox Arts Center, Lakewood BID, The Scientific & Cultural Facilities District, Vintage Theatre; Beck, Brit & Chantelle, John Hauser, Alicia & Tim Horn, Jack Johnson, Marcus & Mason, Bill Marino, Heidi Markley, Amelia Morse, Joseph & Mary Pirozzoli, Pat Salas and Glenn & Kathy Truglio