When the Cops Came Knockin'

The Bug Theater is a mid sized theater in Northwest Denver. It's in a mostly residential neighborhood that was in the midst of a transition. Denver has always been more of a sports town than a theater town,so to see this theater stand where it was..well unusual. It had been dormant for years when a couple artist renovated the space,and began putting shows on there.

One of those artists involved with the Bug was Hugh Graham.Before moving to Denver,Hugh Graham had spent some time as a playwright in Minneapolis. It was that Minnesota connection that created an instant bond when we met. Hugh saw a void in the Denver theater scene and it was his dream to bring more of what he called "cutting edge" theater to Denver. In his eyes,my Reggae Theater piece Malcolm X Meet Peter Tosh fit the bill,so it was agreed to bring the piece to the Bug Theater.

The year before I had brought Malcolm X Meet Peter Tosh from Minneapolis and the Cedar Cultural Center to Denver and the Mercury Cafe. There it drew packed audiences and Alan Dumas,theater critic of the now defunct Rocky Mountain News called it the "top cultural event of 1994" It also drew its share of controversy. A theater piece with Reggae and Rasta themes,and especially a piece dealing with the life of Peter Tosh was going to have to deal with the topic of marijuana. Malcolm X Meet Peter Tosh tackled the subject head on..with spliffs the sizes that Peter Tosh would have smoked. Some loved it and would return with their friends.Others would walk out,and at a performance at Colorado State University in Fort Collins Colorado,the police were called upon reports of "marijuana being smoked onstage" No arrests were made.

The cast for the Bug performances was truly a "One Love" cast. Malcolm X was portrayed by James Crutchfield. James grew up in a household full of reggae music. James was new to theater and had doubts about the process and the cast at times and would express it in rehearsals but would channel that tension in a professional way and thus brought just what that character needed to be onstage

 Scott Kelley played Peter Tosh. At the Mercury and CSU performances Scott portrayed Malcolm X opposite me as Tosh. For the Bug shows,I merely wanted to direct and Scott had now grown dreadlocks,so this was perfect. Scott was from the Virgin Islands and loved reggae music. I first met him at Ken Hamblin's (DJ K-Nee) weekly reggae event,the Yardie Lounge.

The Yardie Lounge is also where I first connected with the "Man on the Couch" character,Thomas Behler. Thomas also became one of those who saw both Mercury and Fort Collins performances. He also became good friends with the original "Couch" character,Mitch Olson.With Mitch deciding to return to Minneapolis shortly after the Fort Collins shows,Thomas seemed like the natural fit for the role.

The Storyteller was Lisa Slicer,a Native American storyteller who came to the piece via the Denver Indian Center and a subsequent pow-wow.
The band for the Bug performances was the 8750 Reggae Band from Telluride Colorado. When I first returned to Colorado for the Mercury shows,someone told me that the 8750 Reggae Band was the best band in Colorado. When I first saw a picture of them,I didn't want to believe it,but when I saw them for the first time,I became a believer,and felt blessed when they said upon hearing about this play,that they wanted to be a part of this. All this made for a wonderful cast.

Seems like in my experience in theater often opening night's performance gets through due to opening night adrenaline,the second night something unexpected happens,and by the third night things click for the rest of the run.
The first night at the Bug blew me and the audience in attendance away. Everyone was amazingly good.

One had the sense something was going to happen the moment one walked into the Bug for the second night. There seemed to be some sort of tension even backstage before the show began.

With Malcolm X Meet Peter Tosh, it was a given that a certain degree of tension would be created long before the first words of dialogue were spoken. What some would consider to be pre show music was actually part of the show and the volume of it was more akin to being at a live concert rather than at a theater event. Some of the audience would arrive during the "pre show" music upsetting some of those expecting a show to start" on time".Then there was the excruciatingly slow walk from the audience to the stage by the "Man on the Couch" All tension building from the start.

Leave it to Ken Gorman to push the envelope. There is a scene early in the play where Peter Tosh would hand a joint to an audience member. Often it was then when the marijuana action would begin in earnest,but now,after performances in Minneapolis,Denver and Fort Collins,the audience knew what was coming and while I was introducing the piece,Ken Gorman,the Colorado marijuana activist known for his pot smoking rallies on the steps of the Colorado State Capitol walked up to the stage to hand me a lit joint. Now,with marijuana smoking added to the scripted chaos in the beginning,shouts of "put that out!" and "hand it to me!" was added to the mix.

After the introduction,I took up my seat in the back of The Bug,and pulled up my director's notes.I could hardly write any notes as Thomas,Scott,James and Lisa were all exceptionally good this night..Then as if on cue,but it really wasn't..IT HAPPENED! As Malcolm and Peter were debating the herb's merit onstage,I began to notice flashlights checking the aisles. The flashlights were not courtesy of the Bug Theater which did not employ ushers,but rather that of the Denver Police Department and they weren't helping people to their seats. I heard someone say "Is this part of the play?"
Reggae music has a sense of timing,theater has a sense of timing,and so does life. The police reached the front of the stage in time to get smoke blown on them by The Man on the Couch (Thomas)-the audience cheered. The police then turned around and began to grab people in the front of the audience as Scott begins to go into a Peter Tosh monologue/diatribe on the evils of Babylon. As people are being carried out,the audience shouts "Let them go!" In previous performances,the Man on the Couch would have been one of those hauled off also. The Bug Theater shows were the one time where the spliffs from the stage were not real however.

At this point I'm still sitting in my seat awaiting the joint coming my way wondering if its the real or fake one,and as the writer and director waiting for the police to find and arrest me.
It is now the point in the play where the 8750 Reggae Band does a short set. Some people get out of their seats to dance amongst the wall of cops standing on the side. The spliff gets to me.It's the real one. I take a hit,pass it on,and use the moment to get out of my seat,walk around the theater and in a sense make it easier for them to arrest me if they wish. As I get up,I notice one Denver cop overcome by the One Love vibe and was moving his feet and his club to the reggae beat.

"Is this part of the play?"
In the foyer,cops were getting info from the folks they pulled from the audience. I walk outside. Down the street from the Bug,a fight was in progress. Looked pretty serious to me. Denver cops however felt differently. It was past the roadblock and lineup of cop cars there to deal with reports of pot smoking in the theater. On the side of the theater there were more cops,blocking in the alley the 8750 Reggae Band's tour bus.

8750's set was over and it was time for me to come back inside.

The next day,the Rocky Mountain News theater section began with the headline "Bug's Malcolm X Leaves Audience Members Smokin"

 A sidenote: Hugh Graham tells me that for sometime afterwards,the Bug Theater was noted for what happened that night..I'm not sure that's the way he anticipated putting the Bug on the map,but it worked I guess.

Fast forward a week later. I would begin my days by making a breakfast and follow that with a trip to Alfalfa's, a natural food store nearby in Denver's Capitol Hill neighborhood. There I'd have coffee and engage with friends who lived in the neighborhood. Shortly after returning this particular time,there was a knock on my door. I thought it was the landlord. I was wrong. It was the Denver Police Department. I closed the door behind me. No way was I going to allow the police just to walk inside my apartment.

I asked the cops what brought them to my place. "Report of quantities of marijuana" Normally,without a warrant,I still would not have allowed them in,but I had to laugh and said "Come on in officers,There it is!"

I pointed to the kitchen table to where a small piece of marijuana lay. After the officers inspected the rest of the apartment and commenting on the interesting collection of books I had, ("Not your typical drugman" one of them remarked) I was asked to "dispose" of that piece after they left. It got disposed of in true Rasta fashion. I didn't realize it when I first put the piece on the table,but as it turns out,that  small piece of marijuana was resting on the Rocky Mountain News article.

written  on 4/20/2013