Every cynical commercial theater producer knows the easy path to box-office success is to exploit a known title with a built-in audience.
Then there’s Buntport, that quirky local theater troupe that exists on a plane somewhat parallel to the rest of the real world.
Oh, they’re not averse to cherry-picking a popular title or respected writer for the stage. But while corporations are turning “The Little Mermaid,” “Little House on the Prairie” and the Four Seasons into multimillion-dollar musical spectaculars, these six Colorado College alums are gleefully pickpocketing the works of James Thurber and Charles Brockton Brown. And you know who never gets old? Bohumil Hrabal!
On Broadway, adaptation makes you a sellout. At Buntport, it makes you . . . an oddball collective that regularly creates plays that are funny and strange and beautiful and difficult and surprising and completely their own. But they don’t seek out the likes of Melville and Chekhov out of any snooty literary elitism.
No, “We go searching for things that are in the public domain,” said ensemble member Erin Rollman.
So while setting Billy Joel music to ballet (“Movin’ Out”) actually sounds right up Buntport’s alley, you’re more likely to see them turn Kafka’s “Metamorphosis” into the (rubber) Ice Follies.
“We’d actually love to exploit Billy Joel’s music — if we could get the rights,” said Samantha Schmitz. Alas, that’s also why she’ll never get to do her dream project — “Point Break, the Musical.” Patrick Swayze and Keanu Reeves dodged that bullet.
Instead, Buntport’s milestone 25th original stage creation, opening tonight, is “Anywhere But Rome,” an odd amalgam of Ovid (“Metamorphoses”), Jack Kerouac (“On the Road”) and Lewis Carroll (“Alice in Wonderland”).
The exiled Roman poet is hitchhiking with two of his own creations — the blind soothsayer, Tiresias, and Io, a woman who has been turned into a cow. They get picked up by a mild-mannered couple named Louis and Carol (get it?) from Minnehaha County. That’s in South Dakota, but this is pure Kerouac Country.
From “Metamorphosis” to “Metamorphoses” — full-circle for this nearly decade-old company. It’s been an acclaimed, if not exactly profitable, journey.
“We’re stupid businesspeople, maybe, thinking we’re going to ride Kafka and Ovid to the top,” Evan Weissman said with feigned economic naivete.
There’s not another theater company in Colorado like Buntport, where the ensemble plans, writes, directs and stages every aspect of every show collaboratively. They are also one of the state’s few troupes to have made itself completely self-employed, full time, at making theater.
Fifteen titles to date have used pre-existing material, writers or characters as a launching pad — for obvious reasons.
“You come to find that you start selling more tickets when people recognize a name,” said Brian Colonna. But adapting, Rollman added, “is not something we do exclusively — and it doesn’t mean that we make a show exactly what somebody expects it to be, either.”
Often, as is the case with “Anywhere But Rome,” the title doesn’t even reflect the source material. “This one is such a deviation,” Rollman said, “that you don’t have to know anything . . . anything . . . about these characters. Well . . . hopefully you don’t.”
It’s the company’s signature talent to meld familiar, if often dense and detached, classic literature with its own inventive presentational style to create something wholly unique and quite unexpectedly fun.
And no matter how little audiences may recognize, say, “Hamlet,” from Buntport’s “Something Is Rotten” — in which three men are compelled by the ghost of a tube sock to perform the Bard’s classic play — often, the resulting Buntport creation makes the source material more accessible to the audience. Consider that 24 million have seen Angelina Jolie in the animated knockoff of “Beowulf.” Do you think even half that many people have read the book?
“A lot of people say to us, ‘After I saw your show, I went back and read the book,’ ” Erik Edborg said. “So, not only are we making theater, and running our business, but maybe in a grander sense, we are exposing people to things they wouldn’t have gone into otherwise.”
Buntport produces exclusively self-written material at a daunting rate. In addition to their 25 full-length plays, they have staged nearly 100 bi-weekly episodes of their live sitcoms, “Magnets on the Fridge” and “Starship Troy.” So they don’t have a lot of time to mess around.
The process starts with homework. Yes, these 30-ish pals start by assigning one another reading, such as, say, Dante’s “Divine Comedy.”
“Well, to be fair, it’s more like, ‘You should go home and read some stuff on the Internet about Dante,’ ” Rollman said. “No one goes home and actually reads a book.”
The actors pitch concepts and eventually pursue those that spark the most talk. Sometimes it starts with a set idea, like when someone said they should perform a show entirely suspended off the ground (“The 30th of Baydak”). “Then we had to go backward and find a story that worked for the set,” Rollman said.
“Anywhere But Rome” started with a discussion of dozens of artists who have been exiled. “But it’s not about exile anymore,” Rollman added. “Now it’s just a road trip.”
The group divides the writing chores and, in rehearsal, shapes the pieces into a whole. It’s a process like no other — everyone is both actor and playwright. Often they don’t know what they’ve created until they’re done creating.
“It’s a process of discovery,” said Rollman. “We believe you don’t have to have intended something for it to be there.”
The only real criterion: “To rethink something in a way that’s surprising to people,” said Colonna. But it’s OK, Rollman added, “if all you do is come and laugh.
“We take great pride when people come up to us and say, ‘I hate theater — but I love what you do.’ ”
John Moore: 303-954-1056 or jmoore@denverpost.com
Sneak peek: a video look at “Anywhere But Rome”
Buntport 101: A short reading list
Five examples of how Buntport takes a classic literary title, author or character and uses it as a launching pad for creating original theater pieces:
Titus Andronicus! The Musical”
Buntport’s most popular show features a band of moronic minstrels who present Shakespeare’s bloodiest tragedy with only a broken-down Club Wagon and a “tote board of death” for a set. Who knew tongue-chopping — and Britney Spears — could be so much fun?
“Moby Dick Unread”
Four performers, a 10-gallon aquarium and a few hanging buckets add up to a surprisingly faithful depiction of all 135 Melville chapters — in 80 minutes.
“Kafka on Ice”
A biographical look at the anguished “Metamorphosis” author. And, as advertised, it’s performed on (fake) ice, complete with Disney-esque songs, lavish costumes and six actors who don’t know how to skate. Like Kafka, it’s surreal, distorted, illogical, dangerous and blackly funny.
“The 30th of Baydak”
A look at present-day Turkmenistan, based on Bohumil Hrabal’s novel, “Too Loud a Solitude,” in which a quiet, unassuming drone tries to extrapolate meaning from his life. And, oh yeah: It’s performed on a set entirely suspended above ground.
“The Odyssey: A Walking Tour”
The audience is split into two simultaneous tours and led around a bi-level, museum-style set made up of individual rooms, each depicting adventures from Odysseus’ long journey home. Tour guides Vicky and Todd introduce you to pig slaves, the Cyclops and a dinner table serving only rotting cow carcass. Each audience member wears a Walkman, through which they receive all of the play’s recorded sound and dialogue — meaning all of the action is lip- synched. All of it.
Compiled by John Moore
“Anywhere But Rome” ticket information
Original comedy. Buntport Theater, 717 Lipan St. Written, directed and performed by ensemble. Through Dec. 20. 8 p.m. Thursdays-Saturdays. $13-$20. 720-946-1388 or .
This week’s video podcast:
Running Lines at Shadow Theatre on election night
Denver Post theater critic John Moore captures the scene at Denver’s only primarily black theater company on the night Barack Obama is elected president. Guests include Jeffrey Nickelson, Judge Raymond Jones, Dwayne Carrington, Ghandia Johnson, Zawdie Ekundayo and PJ D’Amico. Filmed Nov. 4, 2008. Run time: 10 minutes.
This weekend’s other theater openings
“The 1940s Radio Christmas Carol”
Last year, the Bas Bleu Theatre bowed the world premiere of Walt Jones’ anticipated sequel to “The 1940s Radio Hour.” This year is the world premiere 2.0 — it’s since been musicalized. It’s WOV Radio’s Christmas Eve 1943 broadcast of “A Christmas Carol.” Through Jan. 4. 401 Pine St., Fort Collins, 970-498-8949 or
“Beauty and the Beast”
The Town Hall Arts Center presents the tale as old as time: That cursed beast imprisons the beautiful Belle but learns to love, just in the prick of time. Through Dec. 28. 2450 W. Main St., Littleton, 303-794-2787 or
“Chaos Theory Meets Dumb Luck”
Srories On Stage is an ongoing series of themed short stories and essays. This time: Why do some people have all the luck, while others are just plain unlucky? Kathleen Brady, Sam Gregory, John Hutton and Randy Moore read in this program benefiting the graduating class of the Denver Center’s National Theatre Conservatory. 1:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. Sunday. Tramway Theatre, 13th and Arapahoe streets, 303-494-0523 or
“Cricket on the Hearth”
Heritage Square Music Hall’s familiar retelling of Dickens’ melodrama about a girl who mistakenly believes her love has been lost at sea. A short holiday tale followed by a holiday music and comedy revue. Through Dec. 31. 18301 W. Colfax Ave., Golden, 303-279-7800 or
“Jingle with the Cringles”
A behind-the-scenes sketch-comedy look at Santa’s not-so-serious side. Through Dec. 20. Bovine Metropolis, 1527 Champa St., 303-758-4722 or
“Lend Me a Tenor”
Lake Dillon’s take on Ken Ludwig’s popular farce about an opera star who’s incapacitated by an accidental overdose of sleeping pills. Through Dec. 14. 176 Lake Dillon Dr., Dillon, 970-513-9386 or
“Little Foxes”
Vintage Theatre presents Lillian Hellman’s 1939 story of three siblings struggling for control of a family business. Through Dec. 14. 2119 E. 17th Ave., 303-839-1361 or
“The Producers”
Boulder’s Dinner Theatre becomes the first metro theater company to stage its own version of Mel Brooks’ Broadway blockbuster about, ironically, two theatrical producers who scheme to stage the world’s worst musical. Outrageously funny and gleefully inappropriate. Through March 28. 5501 Arapahoe Ave., 303-449-6000 or
“The Show Off”
Germinal Stage-Denver stages George Kelly’s character comedy set in 1924 Philadelphia, where an unbearable egotist struggles to maintain his self-respect in the face of discouraging obstacles. Through Dec. 14. 2450 W. 44th Ave., 303-455-7108 or
Complete theater listings
Go to our complete list of every currently running production in Colorado, including summaries, run dates, addresses, phones and links to every company’s home page.
