Rock of Ages

Yes, there will be an ice-skating cockroach. But Kafka himself, portrayed by local actor Gary Culig in Buntport Theater's new production, Kafka on Ice, won't pirouette on blades like the rest of the biographical musical's characters. That's right, says Buntport's saucy Erin Rollman, turning on that ready-for-anything spirit we've all come to expect from the maverick independent theater company: Kafka on Ice, which intersperses Disney-fied scenes from Metamorphosis with the author's life story, will be performed on ice (albeit fake ice) when it opens today for performances in repertory with Macblank, another comic turn on a classic.

The Buntport regulars simply looked at one another and shouted "Eureka!" upon learning of the existence of synthetic rinks, Rollman explains. And even though ersatz ice turns out to be quite expensive and none of them really knew how to skate, ensemble members immediately knew they had to build a production around it. Who else but Kafka could be such a perfectly absurd match?

Besides, Rollman adds, they got a very good deal.

See Kafka at 8 p.m. Saturdays through December 4 at Buntport, 717 Lipan Street; additional Thursday-night shows are scheduled for October 21, November 4 and November 18. For tickets, $10 to $15, call 720-946-1388; for information, go to www.buntport.com. -- Susan Froyd