Serious and Silly: A Conversation with Jake Brasch, Author of The Reservoir

Are you living in Denver, Atlanta or LA? You have the opportunity of a lifetime in getting the chance to see one of the first productions of Jake Brasch’s The Reservoir (US/UK). The play introduces Josh, who is back home from NYU because of his struggles with alcohol. The folks who will help him, his four grandparents, all have different relationships to dementia. The play is thoughtful, hilarious, heartbreaking and fulfilling in every way.

We reached out to Jake to talk about his writing  and the upcoming premieres of The Reservoir.

How would you describe yourself/your work as a playwright?

Hello, Cursed Children of the Internet!

My name is Jake Brasch, and I’m a Queer, Sober, Jewish, Coloradan Clown. This is my truth, and those are my adjectives.

Of said adjectives, I identify first and foremost as a clown. Yes, I moonlight as a birthday party clown, but that’s not really what I mean. I process the world through humor. I believe in buffoonery as a gateway to engagement and therefore write comedies about things that aren’t funny. I aim to create batshit and fun worlds that pickle into something deeper and eventually allow space for folks to grow their sense of what’s possible—in themselves and in the world.

I set out to write a drama about dementia science and ended up with a semi-autobiographical comedy about recovery, family, memory and Jazzercise.

What was the initial idea that led you to write The  Reservoir?

For years, I knew I wanted to write about the year I got sober and reconnected with my grandparents. I was navigating the fog of early sobriety as they were grappling with the onset of dementia. Somehow, we were on the same plane.

I tricked myself into writing it when I didn’t have a pitch for The Ensemble Studio Theatre/Sloan Project. Desperate to feed my husband with commission money, I stumbled upon the concept of Cognitive Reserve—the theory that certain activities can help protect against the onset of dementia. I got the commission and there was no going back.

I set out to write a drama about dementia science and ended up with a semi-autobiographical comedy about recovery, family, memory and Jazzercise. Whoops!!

Your play compares the effects of alcoholism and dementia on the brain, and yet keeps a level of humor constant throughout the show. How do you balance those both silly and serious themes?

Serious and silly belong together! They’re obsessed with each other! They need to get married and have babies! And I will be their saucy gay uncle.

In my family, humor is serious. We’ve survived through our comedy. My grandparents were some of the funniest people I’ve ever met. I knew that to honor them, I’d need to land the jokes.

Also, normies may be surprised to learn that recovery meetings are the best comedy in town! Nothing is better than a sober alcoholic making the room howl with laughter as they tell a horrifying story from their drinking days. We laugh because we’ve been there too. We laugh because we’ve healed.

The play doesn’t shy away from the hard stuff, but at its core, it’s a celebration of life.

I’m obsessed with older actors. I plan to write parts for shameless, vivacious and horny seniors until I become one myself.

Grandparents and grandchildren in stories and media are often only represented a handful of ways, but in your play those relationships are anything but ordinary (Josh helps his grandfather learn the Haftarah or goes to Jazzercize with his grandmother). Could you talk about what it’s been like to write for and work with older actors in more unconventional circumstances?

I’m obsessed with older actors. I plan to write parts for shameless, vivacious and horny seniors until I become one myself.

My obsession with writing characters of an age began at the Ensemble Studio Theatre. I noticed that most of the playwrights in Youngblood were only writing roles for their young friends, and EST had a treasure trove of older actors ready to slay. I was like, Wait – I have an untapped pool of some of the best actors in town??? I wrote this play to cast those heroes.

The Reservoir often functions like a dance piece; it mirrors the protagonist’s strange train of thought. I’m in Denver rehearsing now and it’s been inspiring to watch our actors embrace the thing. Our grandparents are wearing kneepads and sliding across the floor. They’re dropping into the splits. They go full out in a Jazzercize sequence. They’re embodying the spirit of water in the style of Martha Graham. It’s Punk Rock.

The great gift of working on this play is that every time we work on it, the room mirrors the play. It forges intergenerational relationships. My grandparents may be gone, but I have wonderful new friends in the geniuses who play them every night.

My job is to tell the truth.

The play is currently starting a co-production between Denver Center, Alliance Theatre in Atlanta, and the Geffen Playhouse in LA. What is the exciting part about having three different theatres produce your work?

Everything is exciting about it. I still can’t believe that it’s happening.

The biggest win here is the chance to share this story with so many folks. I’m used to sharing my work with 30 people at filthy garages in Bushwick. Can somebody say upgrade?!

Writing this play was scary. I wasn’t sure what it would feel like to write into the most embarrassing, least flattering chapter of my life. The fact that this has been the play that’s opened doors for me has reminded me that my job is to tell the truth.

If there’s one thing audiences should take away from your play, what would that be?

I can’t decide, so here are three:

There’s joy to be found in times of uncertainty.

Recovery is hard, but not impossible.

Call your grandma. I promise she has all of your answers.

For more information about The Reservoir and other great plays, visit Concord Theatricals in the US or UK.