There’s a word for the adroit, unpredictable symbiosis that turns a Ukrainian short story into a theatrical mud bath, adapts a confusing Shakespeare tragedy into a musical comedy or propels an episodic Colorado novel into the Twilight Zone.

“Many times, the act of ‘Buntporting’ the show happens after we’ve made the choice to deal with certain material,” says Buntport Theater actor Brian Colonna, reflecting on “Indiana, Indiana,” the singular novel that inspired the latest Buntport collaboration. It opens on Friday.

“We’ll say, ‘You gotta put some Buntport in.’ This novel is so beautiful and strange already. The nonlinear story line begs for some Buntporting, as well.”

Buntport: It’s a verb and a noun. In the Buntport Theater’s eccentric stagings, the actors have slogged sloppily through a mud pit, offered a goldfish playing Ophelia in “Hamlet” and staged an Ice Capades-inspired interpretation of some particularly bleak Franz Kafka material.

Their latest challenge is translating University of Denver professor Laird Hunt’s dark, poetic novel “Indiana, Indiana” into a theatrical drama.

The novel maps the fitful interior and exterior landscapes of protagonist Noah. Its deliberately cryptic content – Noah’s memories focus heavily on what his father calls “fifty percent stories” that omit half of the tale – and nonlinear structure could have been written specifically to be Buntported.

“When you’re reading, you can sit on it for a second while you put the puzzle pieces together, so the challenge was how to put it on stage without making it too artsy,” said ensemble member Hannah Duggan.

“We don’t want people going ‘Wha . . . what?’ We’ve tried to stay true to the book.”

“Plus we thought it would be nice to actually meet a living author,” said actor Evan Weissman.

“People like to hear songs they know, set to different words. That’s a given,” said Duggan. “And when it comes with really bad dancing and colorful costumes, you just can’t beat it.”

That’s a wry reference to Buntport’s longtime reliance on public-domain works, a dictate of the company’s lean budget. (It also avoids possible rows with authors surprised by particularly elastic translations of their work.)
The innovative, collaborative Buntport Theater company dates back to 1998. Then, seven Colorado College alums – Colonna, Erin Rollman, Erik Edborg, Duggan, Matt Petraglia, SamAnTha Schmitz and Weissman – began creating what Denver theater critic John Moore once called “the most quirky, creative and thought-provoking new material in Denver.”

Thanks largely to the runaway success of “Titus Andronicus! The Musical!” – which was staged four times with long and often sold-out performances before the company retired the hit in 2007 – Buntport earned a reputation for edgy comedy. That’s a mixed blessing because its productions aren’t always cheeky and blithe.

The company’s adaptation of “Indiana, Indiana” steps outside Buntport’s unique mixture of intelligence and silliness and incorporates multimedia elements.

“There may be a moment or two of levity, but it’s generally a dramatic show,” Weissman said.

“I don’t think it’s the type that will have people laughing out loud,” Rollman said.

“Indiana, Indiana” maintains Buntport’s tradition of collaborative theater. Although most members of the company have met Hunt, the novelist wasn’t involved in translating his novel from paper to proscenium. Opening night will be as surprising to Hunt as it will be to people who never heard of his book.

“The adaptation takes on a life of its own, and we have to respect that, while always making sure that we’ve maintained the feeling of the original,” Rollman said.

“Anything can be Buntported. You just have to figure out how.”

August 30, 2009, Claire Martin