The Road Theatre Company

When he finds out that he is only a fictitious character who never appears in The Importance of Being Earnest, Bunbury uses his double anonymity to infiltrate and alter classic literature, starting by accidentally giving Romeo and Juliet a happy ending. The resulting transformation of such classics as The Three Sisters, A Streetcar Named Desire, Waiting for Godot, and even Edgar Allan Poe's The Raven spawns a new sub-discipline in literary criticism and may even change the world. A comedy that proves everyone's life means something--even if they don't exist!
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Peggy Billo
Scot Burklin
Michael Dempsey
Zach Dulli
Ann Noble
Steve Reisberg
Stephanie Stearns
Sean Wing

1 GLAAD Award Nomination
Best Production

2 Ticketholder Awards
Top 10 Plays of 2005
Tom Jacobson - Best Playwriting

6 TicketHolder Award Runner-Ups
Mark Bringelson - Best Director
Peggy Billo, Scot Burklin, Michael Dempsey, Zach Dulli, Ann Noble, Steve Reisberg, Stephanie Stearns & Sean Wing - Best Ensemble Cast
David B. Marling - Best Sound Design
Henry Sume - Best Lighting Design
Sibyl Wickersheimer - Best Set Design
Samantha Wright - Best Costume Design

"CRITIC'S CHOICE...In 'Bunbury,' playwright Tom Jacobson fashions a character for Oscar Wilde's unseen plot device from 'The Importance of Being Earnest' and sends him into giddy collision with various coevals from classic plays. Merely that aspect of this ingenious fantasia 'A serious play for trivial people' - will seduce theater buffs...The sparkling cast inhales each fractal test, starting with Wing's uncanny Bunbury, a living Aubrey Beardsley drawing?Noble and Burklin, Zach Dulli, Stephanie Stearns and Steven Reisberg show laudable range, and Peggy Billo and Michael Dempsey are marvelous mature prototypes!"
- LOS ANGELES TIMES
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"SUPERB...In essaying a 'play for trivial people,' Tom Jacobson has delivered a seriously clever meta-theatrical comedy and an unexpectedly moving ode to the mysterious powers of art and love in 'Bunbury.' With this superb Road Theatre Company world premiere production, Jacobson's antic yet humane wit harpoons some of the biggest leviathans in the theatrical sea, from Wilde to Chekhov to Albee, with an impressive range and a nimble touch that recalls the young Tom Stoppard. Director Mark Bringelson keeps things deft and light, benefiting from an excellent production team and a protean cast that seems to be having a great time!"
- DAILY VARIETY
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"CRITIC'S PICK...Jacobson's latest play is his most magnificent to date
and here it's gorgeously mounted, acted and designed, featuring
uniformly excellent and most committed performances and sharply visual
staging by director Mark Bringelson. Still, the star of this production
is the remarkable Mr. Jacobson. As Bunbury and Rosaline sweep through
time and literature, his audience's collective imagination is also swept
up in ways in which the world can change. A hundred years from now,
people finding complex and ingeniously twisted great works of art could
easily find it to be quite 'Jacobsonian!'"
- BACK STAGE WEST
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"RECOMMENDED...Tom Jacobson's fanciful new play...questions the
significance of literature and comes up with a very comforting thesis...sparklingly written...Mark Bringelson's staging gives Jacobson's whimsy all the flight it requires!"
- L.A. WEEKLY
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"CRITIC'S CHOICE ...It is the finest play now appearing in Los Angeles. The Road Theatre Company of North Hollywood has been doing their thing for the
past fourteen years...Together with director Mark Bringelson, they found
a cast of eight very fine actors... reciting and creating their multi-characters excellently. In short, there are no flaws here - not in timing, nor placement, nor action. For this fine performance you can credit Mr. Bringelson with being a most demanding taskmaster or a crew that absolutely loves being together. I think it's both. Jacobson will have you believing that 'even someone fictional can change the course of history.' Bunbury will take you along the road less traveled by and, I promise, it will make all the difference in the world! Enjoy...you will!"
- SHOWMAG
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"PICK OF THE WEEK...There is a place where great literature and literary
genres reign supreme-and the prolific Road Theatre Company graciously
brings it to life once again...How Bunbury and Rosaline's time-traveling
mission play out-if you'll excuse the expression-is the magical stuff of
which classic theatre is made: both extraordinarily clever yet
ultimately touching and incredibly moving...A presented by the durable
Road Company, gorgeously mounted and designed as usual, featuring
uniformly excellent and committed performances, and sharply visual
staging by director Mark Bringelson, 'Bunbury' goes right to the top of
my list as one of the best productions in Los Angeles this year!"
- REVIEW PLAYS
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"RECOMMENDED... To get straight to the point: this play is smart, funny, entertaining, thick with wit and wisdom, rich in aspirations and accomplished in execution..Playwright Tom Jacobson must love fireworks.well, there are fireworks in his world premiere 'Bunbury,' the opening play of The Road's 15th anniversary season in NoHo.Exploring seemingly insignificant events or characters naturally draws an audience. It offers us all the hope or possibility that our lives, no matter how small or uncelebrated on the stage of the world, may in fact be profound.Bringelson's superb direction, have managed to catch lightning in a jar. The performances crackle with intelligence, nuance and emotional commitment...Uniformly the best work I have seen on any stage.It does what theatre is supposed to do: it transports you and allows you to grow!"
- METRO L.A.
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"THREE STARS...A brilliant comic premise. Playwright Tom Jacobson has taken drama's most famous off-stage characters and given them rich imaginative lives.The comedy must be an actor's dream as well, as the cast members get to show off their chops in a variety of styles and period costumes!"
- DAILY NEWS
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"POIGNANT...A rambunctious, big-hearted play-about-plays.The writing is funny, poignant, and provocative.The concept of this play is clever enough for even Wilde to be amused.it argues that the most important characters in any piece are the ones off stage, and the most important people in our lives the ones we ignore.Jacobson wants us to look more closely at the people and things in our lives that are swept under the carpet.We get to see a lot of very talented actors having fun sending up literature in this piece.Mark Bringelson's precise direction and athletic blocking runs the characters over every corner of the set.This cavorting play is anchored by strong design!"
- LAist.com
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"FABULOUS...The Road Theatre folks rock! Consistently presenting unique,
off the wall, risky, award winning productions, and offering top-notch performances, this is a feisty and fearless theatre company...An absolute must see winner...this current play, in its world premiere, also brilliantly penned by Jacobson, offers still another mind bending theatrical experience...Eight incredible actors play 25 separate characters in remarkable and distinctly different depictions...High praise goes to Director Mark Bringelson for beautiful staging and creatively well thought out choices...I absolutely loved every moment. You will too!"
- THE TOLUCAN TIMES
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"CRITIC'S PICK...The Road Theatre Company is celebrating its 15th amazing year, and they are still doing some of the finest eclectic mix of witty, dazzling, thought-provoking theater. For example their latest production is the World Premiere by the brilliant and talented Tom Jacobson. His newest piece, 'Bunbury,' is cleverly directed by Mark Bringelson....Changing literature can have many consequences, in this delicious madcap romp, done at break neck speed, with the embellishment of some fabulous puppets, Sibyl Wickerhsheimer's excellent multi-level set, and David B. Marling's strong sound design strike just the right notes. Samantha Wright's sensational costumes and Henry Sume's atmospheric lighting, and solidified by this sensational cast ...Jacobson has created a new classic. Not to be missed!"
- KALEIDASCOPE RADIO MAGAZINE
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"WONDERFUL...Though some of the references to literature, poetry, and plays will elude the less learned of audiences, the satirical nature of the play will delight any who have the wonderful opportunity to take part in this theater experience. The audience does not need to be familiar with all the referenced literature to appreciate the merry and sardonic nature of the play. The important message of the play is relevant not only to the characters, but to the real world. Bunbury is more than just a wide-eyed, determined character; he is the embodiment of what it is to be human, and what it is to be appreciated!"
- VALLEY SCENE MAGAZINE
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"RECOMMENDED...a lively and tender meditation on art and unrequited
love...Due to Mark Bringelson's skillful direction, a great production
team, and an enthusiastic cast, 'Bunbury' is a joy to watch...The cast
(each of whom plays more than one role) seems to genuinely be enjoying
themselves, which contributes to the churning energy of the
performance...I was left giddy with the satisfaction of having engaged
in a full evening of intelligent entertainment!"
- VALLEY SOCIAL
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