Playwright, Novelist, Speaker

by Stephanie Eagan

The Wind Is Us: The Death that Killed Capote by Mike Broemmel, follows the life of author Truman Capote from his days researching his iconic “non-fiction novel” In Cold Blood until his death in 1984. The play stars Eddie Schumacher as Truman Capote and is drawn from first-person accounts of Capote’s time in Kansas researching the murders of the family at the heart of his masterpiece In Cold Blood.

From the recordings I’ve seen of Truman Capote, Eddie Schumacher captures him brilliantly: his iconic style, fondness for vodka and scotch whiskey, penchant for name-dropping and bestowing nicknames, and of course Capote’s signature gestures and way of speaking. 

Schumacher takes the stage as Capote after death to tell us his story. He charmingly captures Capote’s body language and storytelling style — moving from one story into a variety of winding side trips before coming back to the main point — and every bit of it enthralls. When Schumacher reads an excerpt from In Cold Blood at the Algonquin, we see that the intricate detail and poetic description that Broemmel uses in his script are true to Capote’s writing form. It would be easy for an actor to stumble over some of the wordier lines, particularly while speaking in Capote’s sibilant, high-pitched voice, but Schumacher clearly and convincingly brings Broemmel/Capote’s words to life.

The writing and delivery of the script are smart and dexterous. Of special note are the aside about tiger prawn tempura with ponzu dipping sauce (“It’s a wonder I didn’t pull out a testicle!) and the wonderful description of Holcomb, Kansas, the town where the murders occurred. Descriptions of the landscape, and local businesses, especially the one whose sign is no longer lit, bring the farming town to life.

The Wind Is Us reveals many fascinating details – from the root beer and aspirin cocktail that one of the convicted murderers habitually drinks to the story of Connie Gustafson, Capote’s preschool nemesis – that carry the story along, bring a nice level of comedy, and make the content sound quite authentic. When Schumacher tells the difficult and gut-wrenching story of Dick Hickock and Perry Smith’s executions, the audience is offered a theory about Capote’s death that, although we have no way of knowing to be true, seems heartbreakingly plausible. 

Dear Hearts, Capote’s death received only “four f-cking paragraphs in the New York Times.” Schumacher’s final line in The Wind Is Us tells us that “the best part was taken somewhere else.” Indeed, this play may be that place.

The Bonfils Girl is a drama with more than a few dashes of comedy that chronicles the life story of Colorado’s own Helen Bonfils. Miss Helen, as she was oftentimes called, was the first woman to serve as publisher of a major daily newspaper, The Denver Post. Helen Bonfils was a pioneering woman producer on Broadway and in London. She was an incomparable philanthropist. An example of her legacy is the Denver Center for the Performing Arts, a premiere arts complex that would not exist today without her funding.

The play was selected to be the theatrical production to take the stage to reopen the historic Elitch Theatre after that iconic venue had been closed for 33 years. The production was also one of four plays by Mike Broemmel in a series at the Denver Performing Arts Complex funded by Denver Arts & Venues.