Buntport Theater, a group of Colorado College graduates, recently relocated to Denver. Its first show here, Quixote, reveals a great deal of promise for the young group.

An original work, Quixote is billed as a satire on academia in which a professor (Erik Edborg) is limited to teaching only Cervantes’ book and, as a result, goes on a quixotic quest with his student Chip (Brian Colonna). The satire aspect often falls flat, neither sharp enough nor consistent.  But conveyances that transport the premise are often exhilarating, a blend of commedia dell’arte, vaudeville, cartoon violence and slapstick.

The five members of the troupe (Hannah Duggan, Matt Petraglia and Erin Rollman play hilariously confused academicians) are aided in their impossible dream by nothing more than sticks of chalk, easel blackboards, erasers and black clothing that quickly becomes chalk-smeared. The chalk, blackboards and erasers play more roles than the actors, from horizontal blackboards serving as a sea-tossed ship to a shattered piece of chalk serving as knocked out teeth. When one actor smokes a piece of chalk, two others clap erasers to provide smoke. The chalkboards are also used for some well-executed comic-book-style illustration. At the play’s beginning, an intricate drawing of a bored class is extended into the real plane by the actors’ limbs: A hand is raised above the drawn arm; another reaches around the board to take notes on a two-dimensional pad.

The story is less involving than the technique, but this short bit of whimsy should serve as a harbinger of invention to come.

-Lisa Bornstein, Rocky Mountain News