Buntport Theater

In the foreground is a woman’s face looking forward and frowning. In the distance a man sits looking concerned. He is seated at a very small desk that is suspended by wires to the ceiling. Behind the man is a large mural portrait of an imposing man on the wall.

The 30th of Baydak

WALKING IN TURKMENISTANLAND

An original production inspired by the goings-on of present day Turkmenistan and Bohumil Hrabal’s novel Too Loud a Solitude. This dark comedy (or light drama or, perhaps, medium dramedy) follows a quiet, unassuming worker in Turkmenistan. Forced to spend his eight-hour work day performing a mind-numbing State-mandated task, he has allowed himself to slip into a drone-like existence. We pick up the story of this mild-mannered Everyman as he tries to create “something” in order to extrapolate meaning from his life, which consists of an over-zealous co-worker, a member of the resistance movement, a potential love interest and a highly unusual and debatably non-existent roommate. On top of everything else, nobody walks on solid ground here because the man in control of the entire country’s destiny is an ego-maniacal, unreasonable and pitiless dictator.