“Well, that was different,” a titillated woman said leaving Buntport’s 18th original production, “A Synopsis of Butchery.”

Of course, saying something is “different” at Buntport is like saying something is “just what you expected” anywhere else. When the lights go down, you never know where you are going to be when they come back up.

Buntport is an experimental, collaborative theater company whose youngsters take novel theatrical concepts and make them accessible, understandable and even fun for audiences. Talk about avant garde.

“Butchery” does not rely on visual trickery. This is something far more magical and unexpected. It’s a bona-fide character study that proves “terrific acting” belongs on the long list of accolades used to describe this spellbinding troupe.

The great Erin Rollman plays Eleanor Fletcher Bishop, aggrieved mother of celebrated mentalist Washington Irving Bishop. He was prone to fits of extreme catalepsy – long, death-like trances. Two doctors, perhaps believing Bishop to be dead (or perhaps not caring), were curious whether anything was unusual about his brain, so they performed an unauthorized autopsy on him in 1889. Eleanor was convinced her son was alive at the time, and therefore was murdered by autopsy. A court disagreed.

In “Butchery,” Eleanor takes her case to the people, as victims of ghastly true crimes often do today. But in the absence of TV, what better audience for this freak show than a carnival? Eleanor narrates her biased tale as hired actors re-enact events.

This premise, while provocative, never could carry 90 minutes. I thought the Buntporters might take us into the actual world of telepathy, or explore the shadowy boundaries of where life ends and death begins. Instead, the focus turns to this embittered, lost mother unraveling before our eyes. That’s not a bad alternative.

“Butchery” is not as funny or engaging as previous Buntport efforts; the writing not as profound. But it’s a delight to simply watch Rollman at work.

In demonstrating Eleanor’s palpable grief, she also unknowingly communicates what a delusional, insufferable mama she must have been. Eleanor was a failed stage diva, and it’s easy to see why. She wants justice, yes, but one can’t help but wonder if she’s not also an opportunist whose tragic tale has punched her ticket back to a sorry stage.

“Butchery” came from Buntport’s loyal audiences, who were gathered last summer and offered three possible show concepts to choose from.

It’s power to the people at Buntport. But the juice comes from the players’ bold, ongoing experimentation with craft.

-John Moore, April 28, 2006, Denver Post