The Denver Post says that “at the top of their game, nobody does silly like Buntport Theatre Company.” And this show is at the absolute TOP of their game. As is often the case, their seemingly silly pieces of fluff makes you laugh while you are at the theatre and think about it more deeply as you drive home. This one causes you to question the whole concept of “middle aged.” What is the middle age and when are you in it? In my personal case, I wondered all the way home when did middle age end and “elderly” begin?

Taking their cue from Seinfield, a Buntport quartet of players (Erin, Hannah, Erik and Brian) indulge in a 90 minute discourse about … nothing. They ponder the purpose of their ‘jobs,’ the importance (or not) of high school reunions, how to pack to move, what makes up a ‘good’ neighborhood, how can you pay a bill when you aren’t in the system, do you really have to put on your socks before your pants, and on and on. But these are merely diversions as they try to find a solution to the initial problem of defining middle age. Is it when you have to get drunk to clean your living space? Is it when you have a crisis – by definition then, a midlife crisis? Is it when you have lost control of the chaos in your life? Or is it dependent on the mean life expectancy of people of your origins, hereditary background, lifestyle, etc? I’m happy to report that no concrete definition was ever found so we can all continue in the delusion that we are still in our middle years!!

One very interest concept was explored to great length. There is a subclass between the X and Y generations of people born in the late 80’s that are the last ones to use things that are now perceived as ‘old-fashioned.’ They are the group that knows what a telephone book is but has never used one. That remembers record players but never owned one. That used to use a map or a card catalog or a dictionary in book form to receive needed information. An interesting classification that they called “networld.”

The ‘boxes’ of the title are beautifully made plexiglass units on wheels with artfully placed feet and hand holes that allow the actors to move about (somewhat) and to reach outside the boxes (awkwardly) to grasp other things like the vacuum cleaner and the phone. One of the joys of each new Buntport show is watching how they stage it. Their sets are always simple but cleverly constructed with imaginative sound effects and lighting.

As usual, I’ll be thinking about this one for a long time. Isn’t that the whole purpose???

A WOW factor of 9!!

-Beki Pineda, April 20, 2015 Boulder Magazine (getboulder.com)