Walk into the Buntport Theater and you are greeted by a set made up of a floor-to-ceiling, two-level, five-room house. For a company that performed “Titus Andronicus” out of the back of a van, the sheer scope is a bit discombobulating.
“Minimalism is out!” cast member Erin Rollman announces by way of introduction. Realism and horror are in (at least temporarily). Those two genres, among the most popular in the American theater canon, are about the only two Buntport has never attempted.
Buntport’s 16th and 17th original creations, “Horror: The Transformation” and “Realism: The Mythical Brontosaurus,” open in repertory Friday and run through Dec. 10. For a young company known for its quirky collaborative creations that are always written, directed and performed as an ensemble without designated directors, “realism was the biggest departure we could make,” says Rollman.
Then again, the set doesn’t have all of its walls. And come to think of it, it’s not exactly, let’s say … level. “Look for the upcoming Fox special,” Evan Weismann cracks, “‘When Actors Build Houses!”‘
The set also is strewn with six freaky-looking children’s puppets. “We knew we would need children to tell the story, but we find working with actual children to be scary,” says Rollman. “So then we thought, ‘What about puppets? They’re scary too! And best of all, they’re not real!”‘
It is all a massive, cumulative effort the Buntporters assess as ambitious “and sort of stupid,” Brian Colonna says.
“Horror” is based on Charles Brockden Brown’s 1798 Gothic novel, “Wieland; or The Transformation.” But those who have come to appreciate Buntport mostly for its original ensemble comedies should be forewarned: It’s not funny scary. It’s really scary. “Wieland” is based on the true, sensational story of a New York farmer who killed his family in 1760 because a voice he thought of as God’s told him to. It is a demonic tale that includes spontaneous combustion, ventriloquism and religious fanaticism.
Underneath the horror, Colonna says, runs a larger rumination on the human mind’s capacity for rational judgment.
“It’s about how do we know what it is that we believe?” he says. “And,” Rollman, adds, “It’s about whether God makes sense.”
“Realism” is Buntport’s first attempt at writing a traditional script that could then be marketed to other companies. “It’s about a guy who has locked himself in a room and removed himself from living after he learns the brontosaurus never really existed,” Rollman says. “It’s like a child who discovers other assumed truths are no longer true.”
The brontosaurus, of course, could be an analogy for just about anything. “I would just hope that audiences who come to see both shows, as different as they are, see the similarities in the themes,” Colonna says.
Buntport’s process is different from any other company’s. The group – seven pals from Colorado College’s classes of 1997-2001 – includes Hannah Duggan, Erik Edborg and, behind the scenes, SamAnTha Schmitz and Matt Petraglia. Since 1998, they have taken Denver by storm with their unique brand of “transformational theater.”
“The 30th of Baydak” was performed on a set suspended in air. “Kafka on Ice” was done as advertised, on skates, though the ice was synthetic. The scenery for “Quixote” was drawn, erased and redrawn on a chalkboard nightly. And the hilarious book-club sitcom “Magnets on the Fridge,” with an original episode every two weeks, returns for a fifth season Nov. 22.
No matter how clever and accessible, though, every Bunt-
port production is rooted in a legitimately intellectual pursuit. “Baydak,” for example, took on the conflict of artistic idealism in a totalitarian regime. But Buntport is best known for its creative storytelling techniques. In the Kabuki-
esque “Cinderella,” actors changed form before our eyes while performing a script entirely in gibberish. The “McGuinn and Murray” set expanded, collapsed and unfolded into seven distinct, often surreal settings.
“We are so used to creating set pieces that distract you from our acting,” Rollman says jokingly. “We can’t do ‘Titus’ without the van. We can’t do ‘Quixote’ without the chalkboard. In a way, what we have done with those pieces has been more of ‘the play’ than the action has.”
“We’re actually acting in this one,” Erik Edborg says, quickly adding, “I’m only speaking for myself here.”
“And we might never do it again,” Rollman says.
Theater critic John Moore can be reached at 303-820-1056 or jmoore@denverpost.com.
Two original world premieres in repertory
BLACK COMEDY/HORROR|Buntport Theater Company, 717 Lipan St.|THROUGH DEC. 10|”Realism: The Mythical Brontosaurus” opens Friday and Saturday, then plays 8 p.m. Fridays and 7 p.m. most Sundays. “Horror: The Transformation” opens Oct. 14-15, then plays 8 p.m. Thursdays and Saturdays.|$12-$15|720-946-1388 or buntport.com