Not Quite Broadway, But We’ve Got Barrels

Most years, we don’t really build a set. We get the cast in front of an audience, tell the story, sing the songs, and trust that a little imagination will do the rest. A table, a chair, maybe a suggestion of time and place and off we go. It’s scrappy, it’s fast, and honestly, it’s kind of our thing. We put it in front of an audience early, so the actors can feel where the laughs land, where the room leans in, and where the story still needs to breathe. But somewhere along the way this year, it started to feel like maybe the world of the show wanted a little more to stand on.

Broadside staging for Vintage Theatre in Denver

Part of that shift came from having a longer run at Vintage Theatre, which gave us the rare gift of time to actually settle into the space. And part of it came from the moment we’re in the 250th birthday of the United States creeping closer, and a story about ink, ideas, and argument suddenly feeling very present again. It didn’t feel like a year to just suggest the world. It felt like a year to build it; carefully, simply, and with a bit of purpose behind every piece.

Typical common press for 1770

Now, before anyone imagines chandeliers flying in from the rafters, let’s be clear, we’re still working without a massive budget for costumes or scenery. What we do have is a plan. The set comes together in three parts: stage left, the print shop, Edes & Gill with a wooden replica of a common press (yes, the devil’s tail is there), a work table, and a flat layered with broadsides that look like they’ve been mid-argument since 1770. Center stage, a single building that does a little of everything, a government space that, with a shift in light, becomes the Green Dragon Tavern. And stage right, Griffin’s Wharf: a small dock, three sturdy barrels (the stars of the show, really), and a thick tug rope, just enough to suggest the harbor without committing to the Atlantic.

Broadside staging for Vintage Theatre in Denver

At the center of it all sits a long table with a few stools, which might be the most important piece we’ve got. Because no matter how big the ideas get, they tend to start the same way: with people sitting down, talking things through, and deciding what happens next. That’s what this set is here to do. Not overwhelm, not distract, just hold the story. Give it shape. Give it somewhere to live. And for us, it feels like a small but meaningful step forward, same spirit as always, just with a little more wood, a few more nails… and yes, a few very important barrels.