LINCOLN PARK — Buntport Theater is unconventional. And with their new production, Crud, a story created using all the things found in an abandoned storage locker, they have moved even further toward the unorthodox. This is no mere attempt to reconstruct the past of this odd collection of stuff, it is something new, literally creating characters and the story from crud. It is a story of memory, of things, and of identity.
The play, created by the Buntport five, SamAnTha Schmitz, Erin Rollman, Erik Edborg, Hannah Duggan, and Brian Colonna, is surreal. Things seem to be real, with jelly toast, antlers, dolls (some in pieces), and shoes, just to name a tiny percentage of the featured crud. And there is a live video feed, constantly providing surveillance, adding an artificial layer of apparent reality. But by focusing on the stuff, the things, the possessions, and always worrying about if someone might be taking them, three of the characters ironically become completely blind to their possessions disappearing. It makes no sense as I describe it, but it seemed to make sense as I watched it on stage. I think it did, anyway.
Two characters are (sort-of) visible onstage as the house opens and the audience trickles in. Two more appear later. These characters are not separate from their stuff; they are physically and emotionally made of crud. But they are also human, and we can relate to them, perhaps more so because they are so tied up in stuff, in physical possessions, just as we all are.
The actors create these surreal yet real characters naturally. Brian Colonna is Broken Baby Doll Detective, with another broken baby doll detective on his shoulder, constantly clarifying which of those descriptions qualify which words. Militantly stuck in his need for “surveillancing,” he refuses to actually look at what is really happening around him. Erin Rollman is at her bizarre best as Dear Deer, climbing about the piles of crud, wonderfully thrilled by the simple pleasure of jelly toast. Hannah Duggan is comfortable as Barely Bear, in a costume that is amazing. The three are constantly interacting, mostly bickering and playing games, just as we would expect from those who have little real substance to their lives, but instead are focused on stuff. As the character called “I have no name,” Erik Edborg is the antithesis of the others … sort of. He is invisible to them, most of the time, and frightening to them when he appears. He is the only character that remembers things, which creates a very strange dynamic. He tells them that they will forget him, but that does not keep them from forgetting him a few minutes later. At times, he seems cruel, but he is not – he is compassionate, but can’t do anything for the others, because they only focus on crud.
The design elements cannot be considered separately from the play itself. Because Buntport fully integrates the creation of their scenery and costumes with the playmaking process, they are a crucial part of the storytelling. Even in this case, when all the stuff, the building blocks of the set and costumes, came from the storage locker, the way they put everything together onstage and in the costumes is phenomenal. Barely Bear’s costume, in particular, is amazing, not appearing human, nor really bear-like, but precisely what this character should be. “I have no name” is nearly invisible at the start, with the surveillance projected on him and his background. The live video is used appropriately, with select moments when the characters take full advantage of the capabilities it provides.
So maybe with Crud, Buntport is just being weird and funny. Very weird, and very funny. But I kept seeing glimpses of meaning as I watched, and the overarching commentary on how crud can dominate our lives and who we are is too important to ignore. In classic Buntport style, Crud is funny, absurd, and laced with meaning, but not too much meaning. And if you go see this, you will never be able to eat (or pronounce) raspberry jam quite in the same way again.
If You Go…
Crud runs through June 10 at Buntport Theater, 717 Lipan. Performances are Thursday, Friday, and Saturday at 8:00 pm and Sundays at 3:00 pm, with an extra “pay-what-you-can” performance on Monday, June 5. Tickets are only $18 in advance, $20 at the door, with a $3 discount for students and seniors. For information and reservations call 720-946-1388 or visit www.buntport.com. Crud marks the end of Buntport’s 16th season, but their popular comic Great Debateseries continues through the summer on the third Tuesday of each month, along with The Narrators, a live storytelling show, on the third Wednesdays of each month. Look for an announcement of their 17th season this summer, which will hopefully also include the ongoing all-ages pirate/myth series Siren Song, on the second Saturday of each month.
Craig Williamson, June 1, 2017, North Denver Tribune