Monday, July 19, 2010
Five years ago The Buran Theatre Company was founded by a group of KU students and faculty and Lawrence residents. The group’s risky and risque original show was the ground-breaking performance that determined the future success of the group. “Nightmares: An Artful Demonstration of the Sublime,” was a sexually explicit and daring performance at The Lawrence Arts Center in 2008. Because of the show’s success, the group knew it had the makings of a great future together. Now the group is back at the University to prepare for another show.
Cast members of The House of Fitzcarraldo (from left) Val Smith, Hilary Kelman and Adam Burnett rehearse at Murphy Hall Monday afternoon. The production is being put on by The Buran Theatre Company which was founded at KU in 2005. Burnett is the Co-Artistic Director of the company whose production opens on July 26 at the Kansas City Fringe Festival.
“It’s great to bring back new work to the place that inspired us all,” said Adam Burnett, original founding member, co-artistic director and KU alumnus.
The KU Theatre Department gave the Buran Theatre Company residency for the summer, granting them free use of theater facilities as the group prepares for the premiere of “The House of Fitzcarraldo.”
“It’s a testament to the department itself and its support in alumni, which I think is extremely strong,” Burnett said.
Burnett said he doesn’t know of many theater departments that are supportive in the way the University has been.
“For me, it’s where my involvement in theater really began, so it was the beginning and it keeps moving upward,” Justin Knudsen, co-artistic director and KU alumnus, said.
Knudsen said that the familiar faces reminded him of when he was a student, and that the incredible energy in and around the building was invigorating.
“I can be myself and I am ready to rock and roll,” Knudsen said.
The Buran Theatre Company began as a group of six founding members and has grown to 29 core members, 75 percent of whom are KU alumni.
The group, whose original goal was to serve new, free and explorative theater performances, is spread out over the United States and beyond, some in countries as far away as Lithuania.
“It was time to come back to where it began. We’ve been separate, but we can come back and recreate that same spirit,” Burnett said.
The group holds together with its passion and ability to take different ideas and work them together into something that reaches out to the audience, Burnett said.
“A lot of people get together and make theater in college, but to be able to continue with a strong identity is important. The group has great flexibility,” said Henry Bial, associate professor of theater and Buran Theatre Company member.
Christopher Luxem, another member, wrote music for the upcoming performance. Bial said the group e-mails lyrics to Luxem in his Staten Island, N.Y., home, and Luxem writes and e-mails the music.
The House of Fitzcarraldo
Showing at: Unicorn Theatre Jerome, 3828 Main KC, MO.
Show times:
7 p.m., July 26
8:00 p.m., July 27
7 p.m. July 28
10 p.m., July 29
8:30 p.m., July 30
11:30 p.m., July 31
4 p.m., Aug. 1
Admission price: $10 (with $5 Festival button)
Synopsis: “The House of Fitzcarraldo” offers a fresh and irreverent take on Werner Herzog’s epic 1982 film, “Fitzcarraldo.” Set in the jungles of Peru, the show proves that no man is an island, but some men are isthmuses.
—Henry Bial, associate professor of theater and Buran company member
Luxem and Burnett have been “collaborating” since second grade, Luxem said.
“Lawrence and Kansas, and KU in general, have the same welcoming atmosphere in terms of being able to get together at a pace where we could take a couple of breaths and have our creative not have to be rushed by any means,” Luxem said.
Coming from the New York rat race, Luxem said he appreciated the times he shared with the group in Kansas even more.
The group members mentioned using Skype during the upcoming performance to include the distant members, but they’re not sure whether the technology will be available.
Bial said the group is grateful for the residency, which was granted by Mechele Leon, artistic director of the University Theatre. He said without residency at the University, money would have to be spent on rent elsewhere.
“I also think that because this is an educational setting, people feel a little more free to experiment and explore how creative they can get,” Bial said.
Campus, he said, is the perfect place to find trusted friends and colleagues to step in and help with the developmental process of the performance.
“The House of Fitzcarraldo” was written and produced in collaboration with 12 members of the company. It opens July 26 and runs through July 31 at the Kansas City Fringe Festival at the Unicorn Theater in Kansas City, Mo.
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