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Born on Braintree Farm
Lost Nation Theater is celebrating its 20th year of providing entertainment and education to central Vermonters, a summer presence included in the recreation plans for thousands of residents and tourists, and an educational resource for central Vermont educators with its annual fall Shakespeare production. And behind it all is the tireless energy and amazing commitment of two individuals, former Braintree resident Kim Bent and his partner in theater and in life, Kathleen Keenan. It began at Randolph Union High School under a drama director named David Griffith. Kim earned the role of the hired man in the play based on Robert Frost‘s poem "Death of a Hired Man," and the hook was set. Kim was a confirmed theater junkie, who went on to appear in Randolph as the stage manager in Thornton Wilder‘s "Our Town." Theater appealed to Kim, he told The Herald last week, because he was an intensely shy youngster, and theater gave him an outlet. Actually, Kim retains that shyness. When Kathleen was contacted about setting up a post-show interview, she agreed, but wouldn‘t tell Kim because it would make him nervous during performance. After RUHS, Kim headed off to UVM determined to leave theater behind him and explore other options. He became an English major, and found that the attraction of theater was too strong to resist. Once again he became immersed in productions both at the university and at the Champlain Shakespeare Festival. "UVM was a great place to do theater because you could work year round," Kim said. Graduate school seemed like the next appropriate step, and Kim landed a slot at Oakland University in Rochester, Mich., which had a theater program that was a satellite campus for the Royal Shakespeare Company. Kim stayed for only a year, however, leaving to accept an invitation to join an experimental theater company in Iowa City that had just received a five-year grant. The Iowa City program was part of the revolutionary experimental theater movement that was taking the U.S. by storm. When the grant period was nearing its end, the one-time shy Braintree boy moved directly to New York City, where he joined the faculty of New York University, which had an active experimental theater wing. Started in Bristol Lost Nation Theater was originally formed by Kim in 1977 in Bristol, Vermont, a tiny town tucked on the western skirt of the Green Mountains. The early LNT was primarily a touring company, with Kim creating original work, rehearsing it in Bristol, and then touring it. During this time, Kim needed to supplement his meager income, and worked part-time at Middlebury College. Carpentry, also, helped pay the bills for a number of years, and some local residents may remember Kim working for Randolph Center builder Larry Richburg. In 1983, Kim once again headed off to graduate school, this time at Long Island University. There he earned more than a degree, as he met Kathleen Keenan. Together, they submitted to the lure of Vermont. This time the new couple settled in Montpelier, which became a commuting base for Kim as he toured three shows, "Waiting for Godot", "Still Life", and "As Is." In the mid-‘80s, Montpelier was home to David Mamet‘s Atlantic Theater Company, which began to lay a foundation for summer theater. When Atlantic moved to Burlington, the City Hall Auditorium was left empty. Kim and Kathleen collaborated with two other theater companies to present a summer program, a successful but exhausting effort. The following year, the Lost Nation Theater Co. we know and love was born. Run by Kim and Kathleen themselves, Lost Nation would produce three or four shows a summer, allowing Kim to teach at Middlebury. This proved to be a period of growth for Lost Nation, in which it earned the trust and support of the city of Montpelier, perhaps its most significant sponsor to this day. In 1995, the city allowed installation of a professional theater lighting grid, and Lost Nation expanded to producing six shows every season, plus its fall Shakespeare work. LNT today, as it turns 20, is more than a producer of shows. It offers a full educational program as well, including a conservatory and children‘s theater. On its birthday, the company was recognized by Gov. Jim Douglas and by the Vermont Arts Council, but perhaps the most significant tribute came from poet David Budbill. Budbill is the author of the Vermont-derived play "Judevine," which was brought to the Montpelier stage last summer. He has seen dozens of productions of his acclaimed play across the country and LNT‘s production, he said, was the most authentic. It truly portrayed the real people he knew who lived in the Northeast Kingdom, he said. This fall, LNT will reprise "Judevine," taking the play to Middlebury, Brattleboro, Bellows Falls, Lyndon, and Rutland. Bent is most comfortable when he‘s allowed to talk about his theater creation, but there was an elephant in the room with us that wasn‘t being addressed. Any theater devotee knows that the past 20 years have brought Lost Nation to the brink financially, and that in the best of times, running a theater is not the path to fortune. As Kathleen noted in a brief conversation, "When we started, I said ‘Great! We only need 40 people a night to make this work.’ Numerous 18-people houses later … " She drifted off, but her meaning was clear. Then her infectious laugh showed that she was unscarred by the struggles. "We do this because it ‘s tangible—it‘s on a human scale," she explained. "You get to see the effect and ripples of your work. You see it in the community." Following His Heart Still, I had to ask Kim the question. Why in the world have you stayed with the theater for almost 40 years? Kim blamed his generation. "I love doing theater," he confessed. "It goes back, I think to the idealism of the ‘60s. I had to follow my heart. I guess I just never grew up!" But the truth is, Kim Bent did grow up. Like Odysseus, he ignored the sirens and sailed back to his home, or at least back to the neighborhood. "You create theater where it should be. That‘s what community is," Kim reflected. That sense of investment in community is reflected time and again, as Lost Nation has mounted theatrical tributes to The Times Argus on its centennial, to former governor Deane Davis, and what Kim considers perhaps his greatest achievement to date, the creation of "Stone," a portrayal of the lives of Barre‘s own granite workers. "Stone was a culmination for me of creating community. It was an idea I‘d had since coming back to Vermont, and it gave me the chance to reflect on mortality, eternity, and a sculptor‘s relation to his work." As Bent reflects on his own work, and his life as well now that he‘s just turned 60, the successes he cites are measured on a human scale. He spoke about three students he trained who won full scholarships to study theater. He hopes to collect some of the compelling stories about the people who have spent time with Lost Nation at City Hall. And the theme of community is integral to Bent‘s future dreams. "I want a job where I can go around and work with arts groups to help them find ways to work together, to pool their resources, to collaborate." You can bet that, whatever Kim Bent ends up doing, it will involve the community. And most certainly, it will involve theater. Vermont has several places that are regionally known as "Lost Nation," and one of them is near Bent’s childhood home on the western slopes of Braintree Hill, a remote, unpopulated place, which was never going to be Vermont‘s premier tourist attraction. But those who find it will discover there much of beauty and much of strength. The same can be said for the theater which carries its name, and for its founder. |
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