31 Aug Colorado-based writer brings ‘Crusades’ to Aspen’s Solo Flights
Most parents know the fear: What if something went wrong with my child and no one could tell me why?
Colorado-based playwright Jason Gray Platt has turned that fear into “Crusades,” a play starring Tony Award-winner Santino Fontana. The one-man stage play will run beginning at 7 p.m. Sept. 9 and 4 p.m. Sept. 12 at Aspen’s Hurst Theatre as part of the Solo Flights Festival; Nikki DiLoreto will direct.
In the play, a dad and his family have recently moved to a beautiful small town in Colorado. Soon, one of his children gets sick and no one knows why. As the dad searches for answers, his trust in reason is tested, and his marriage starts to break apart. He learns how far he will go to get justice.
The play’s premise grew from Platt’s own life after he left Los Angeles and moved to Denver two years ago to support his wife’s career in pediatric palliative care. His brother has lived in Boulder for about 30 years, so the couple looked at towns near Denver and Boulder, keeping their son, now 3, in mind.
Researching the region, he learned about the area’s military-industrial history, and it sparked the concept for the play.