A member of Springs Ensemble Theatre since 2019, Jeremiah Walter threw in his hat to direct “Annapurna” by playwright Sharr White. The two-hander performed off-Broadway in 2014 by celebrity couple Nick Offerman (“Parks and Recreation”) and Megan Mullaly (“Will & Grace”) will be Walter’s directorial debut.
Set in a camper in Colorado’s high country, the play is framed around Ulysses, a dying cowboy poet carting around an oxygen tank in his last days battling cancer, and Emma, the estranged ex-wife who left him in the middle of the night with their son 20 years ago.
“Annapurna” also serves as the first production to bring SET founding members Steve Emily and Julie Sweum together on stage for the first time in the company’s 14-year history despite collaborating on productions otherwise.
“They’re both professional caliber actors that I knew that would take a bit of the pressure off of me,” said Walter, who was temporarily directing remotely via Zoom with a head cold.
“I could have said, ‘Go away for three weeks, learn your lines and come back and do it’ and it would have been pretty dang good.”
The “Annapurna” setting spoke to Walter, who grew up in a trailer in rural Colorado. He also connected with Emily’s Ulysses, a former alcoholic.
“(Ulysses) quit drinking, I believe, seven years ago and I am coming up on four years sober,” Walter said. “There are things he’s talking about with his drinking — like hiding bottles around the house, not having a clear memory of things and things like that — that I can very much relate to.”
As Walter recounted the plot, it started sounding like what we call “ghosting” today.
They’re both professional caliber actors – Jeremiah Walter
“I hadn’t made that connection … but yeah, that’s basically what it was. She left in the middle of the night and he didn’t really know why,” Walter said.
As the play progresses, it becomes clear that each character is missing portions of their mutual story as they reassemble what happened that fateful night and, ultimately, why she left.
“It’s also an interesting examination of forgiveness and how love, even after 20 years, can still be there and how there’s still familiarity,” Walter said. “She learns that he’s no longer drinking, which is both a relief, like, ‘Good, I’m glad you quit,’ but also the frustration of, ‘Why couldn’t you have done that when we were together?’”
When not reading reviews of previous productions to understand metaphors within the play that may or may not materialize in this staging, Walter helps manage the production and rehearsals. He praised his SET colleagues and collaborators, including set designer Kitty Robbins, who scavenged the wood panelling of Ulysses’ camper from dilapidated trailers near Cripple Creek.
“It isn’t just working with the characters, but the full breadth of the production has been really rewarding and kind of stimulating in my brain,” Walter said. “I very much enjoy the breadth of the work and getting to really focus on all these little details.”
IF YOU GO
“Annapurna” by Springs Ensemble Theatre runs Feb. 1-18 at the Fifty-Niner, 2409 W. Colorado Ave. Information and tickets: springsensembletheatre.org.