On the first page of his script for The Reservoir, playwright Jake Brasch penned a straightforward note for the actors: “Play against the pain. In spite of everything, let this be a celebration of life.” Those words set the tone for the comedy-drama, which centers on Josh, a Jewish, queer twentysomething who moves back to Denver from New York to recover from alcohol addiction—a story that isn’t far off from its author’s reality.

Growing up in Denver, Brasch developed an early love of the performing arts. “There’s a video of me as a small child on a rocking horse singing the score to Oklahoma!,” he says. “I was fully channeling some theater queen.” He made his first appearance onstage in the Denver Center for the Performing Arts’ (DCPA) annual production of A Christmas Carol at just 11 years old and discovered his knack for storytelling while participating in the center’s beginning playwriting program in high school. But while studying drama at New York University, Brasch grappled with alcohol addiction and decided to move back to Denver in 2014, after earning his degree. “I had to rebuild my life from the bottom up,” he says.

5280 January 2025
More From The Issue

Sober for more than a decade, Brasch has authored several plays, including Our Tempest, a dark comedy about climate change, and Salutations, I’m Creative Dave, a science fiction show presented from the perspective of a robot. But he has never reflected so directly on his recovery as he does in The Reservoir, which took him three years to write and is named after the opening scene, in which Josh wakes up on the shores of Cherry Creek Reservoir after a bender. “It feels, to some extent, gross and scary to write about that time, and it would be easier to just move on,” Brasch says. “But folks really see themselves in [this story], and that’s been healing.”

Despite the show’s heavy subject matter, Brasch wants the audience to laugh. Comedic relief and heartwarming moments come in the form of Josh’s grandparents, who accompany him to museums and Jazzercise classes during his recovery—scenes inspired by Brasch’s own relationship with his grandma and grandpa. “I didn’t want this show to be a bummer,” he says. “It’s going to be sweet and loving and hilarious, and you’ll leave wanting to hug your grandparents.”

Although Brasch has written seven full-length plays during his eight-year career (three of which have made it to the stage), The Reservoir is his first script to receive national acclaim. During a reading at the 2023 Colorado New Play Summit, the show caught the eye of the dramaturg for Los Angeles’ Geffen Playhouse; early last year, it was recognized as a finalist in a playwriting competition at Atlanta’s prestigious Alliance Theatre. The Reservoir will have limited full-production runs at both of those venues later this year, but first, it premieres at the DCPA (January 17 to March 9). “This is a deeply Colorado play by a deeply Colorado playwright, and I am so moved that it’s debuting at the theater I revered as a kid,” Brasch says. “It feels like a love letter to my grandparents, to recovery, and to Colorado.”

Read More:

This article was originally published in 5280 January 2025.
Barbara O'Neil
Barbara O'Neil
Barbara is one of 5280's associate editors and writes stories for 5280 and 5280.com.