Images from the BareBones Halloween Extravaganza, A Fistful of Dirt.
Photographed by Jayme Halbritter, October 30 & 31, 2011

“Thank you for coming!”  For the 6,678 members of the Halloween audience who joined BareBones over the course of five nights this year, thank you for being part of public art, for supporting community theater, and for celebrating the season and honoring the dead.

Here’s a message from Lelis Brito & Kristi Ternes, Artistic Co-Directors of the 2011 BareBones Halloween Extravaganza – A Fistful of Dirt: How the Death Was Won

As directors of this mammoth cast of performers and volunteers, we cannot help but be awed by the generosity of spirit, hard work, creative drive, lost sleep, and community support offered by this otherwordly and life-giving community called Barebones. Since August, section designers, community members, board members, the production team, riggers, musicians, performers, aeralists, writers, stilters, puppeteers, children, elders, techies, and foodies have gathered regularly to contemplate the nature of death through conversation, imagery, puppets, and shared community. What a privilege to get the wide-angle view and to be asked to listen to people’s visions. Thanks to every volunteer for welcoming us and trusting us.

Read more about the BareBones Halloween Extravaganza 2011, including comments from the audience, on the Fistful of Dirt home page.

A huge roar of “Thank You All!” to the following 258 known Aerialists, Artists, Board Members, Builders, Carpenters, Cooks, Coordinators, Directors, Editors, Fire Performers, Fundraisers, Graphics Designers, Kitchen Hands, Lighting Designers, Managers, Musicians, Organizers, Painters, Papier-Maché Engineers, Parking Lot Hands, Photographers, Police Officers, Performers, Puppeteers, Riggers, Site Hands, Sound Engineers, Stage Hands, Stilters, Storyboarders, Ushers, Videographers, Visiting Artists, Writers and various Cooperators, Helpers, Key Collaborators, and Supporters of all kinds, plus another dozen or two unable-toget- named Excellent Others who all helped to create this remarkable 2011 Halloween Outdoor Puppet Extravaganza:

Amber, Autumn, Finley, Kelly, Klint, Max, Murray, Muskrat, Nick, Paul, Paul #2, Rob, Song, Riva, Tick, Vince, Waffle, Trevor Adams, Christopher Allen, Nicole Amaris, Brent Anderson, Emily Anderson, Joel Arce, Owen Arthur, Lisa Baker, Jamie Barber, Boe Bauman, Jackie Beckey, Erin Belfry, Andrew Bendzick, Rachel Blomgren, Gustavo Boada, Justin Boeke, Thomas Boguszewski, Andrew Boos, Alina Breneman, Angela Brewer, Joe Bridge, Megan Bridges, Lelis Brito, Simon Buley, Joe Burns, Betsy Burr, Elizabeth Cain, Pete Callahan, Lisa Carlson, Laurel Chapman, Allen Christian, Carrie Christensen, Kim Christensen, Giuliana Ciabo, Anna Cioffi, Beatrice Collard, Nicolas Collard, Amber Collett, Bahiyyah Comeau, Willow Cordes- Ecklund, Kat Corrigan, Kevin Cosgrove, Angie Courchaine, Sarah Cunningham, Joe Cypher, Brian Dahl, Brently M Davis, Zander Davis, Katey Dolezal, Erica Dossa, Mitchell Dose, Sam Dunkley, Ryan Dunlop, Ila Duntemann, Alicia Dvorak, Ea Eckwall, Heidi Eckwall, Ulli Eckwall, Ben Egerman, Deb Ervin, Mike Fahey, Tara Fahey, Mary Farrell, Carrie Feldman, Geneva Finn, Rosemary Fister, Dylan Fluncker, Yana Frank, Peter Frey, Katie Fritz, Isa Gagarin, Cully Gallagher, Chris Gamm, Rosa Garcia, Sean Geherty, Patty Gille, Renee Goneau, Journey Gosselin, Sam Granum, Jayme Halbritter, Scottie Hall, Elysia Hansel, Ashley Hanson, Sarah Hanson, Brent Harring, Bryce Harring, Mike Harris, Tim Harlan-Marks, Starri Hedges, Josh Journey Heniz, David Heitzman, Soozin Hirschmugl, Pam Hoffler, Eric Hofstad, Chloe Hollister-LaPointe, Willow Hollister-LaPointe, Lela Horst Bauman, David Hoyt, Xena Huff, Nathan Hurley, Brian Ioni, Julie JAO, Rosie Jablonsky, Ynes Jennings, Lisa Johnson, Olli Johnson, Oliver Kilgore Jones, Julia K, Munir Kahar, April Kaisen, Andy Kedl, Tynan Kerr, Lucy Kervin, Charlie Koecher, Rah Kojis, Jim Koplin, Robert Kucera, Walter LaMay, Marc Lamm, Tracey LaPointe, Sarah Lazarewicz, Greg Leierwood, Mina Leierwood, Nick Lethert, John Lozoya, Andy Looze, Gina Louise, Alex Lundberg, Sarah M, Angela Maki Jones, Jennifer Mars, Derek Maxwell, Amanda Mayer, Andy Mazarol, Kelley Meister, Sharon Meister, Anna Michalke, Carol Michalke, Paul Michalke, Sarah Frances Michaelson, Pasha Milbrath, Matthew Miller, Stephanie Molstad, Amber Moore, Henry Montplaisir, Arielah Moskow, Will Munger, Emrys Muriel, Sheila Nelsen, Nell Nere, T.J. O’Connor, Alan Olson, Jason Overby, Laurie Pape-Hadley, Kristi Papenfuss, Heather Pavlu, Nick Pawlowski, Krista Pearson, Gator Pete, Casey Peterson, Svetlana Petrovich, Barbara Peterson, Tracey Peterson, Sean Petteway, Amber Phelps-Bandaroff, Daniel Polnau, Cassie Pupovac, Lyndsay R, Eric Raven, Serena Raven, Tina Raven, Soma Raye, Kelley Reierson, Renae Rentz, Ryan Rentz, Friede Rica, Colleen Rice, Sarita Riddle-Bencriscutta, Hannah Rivenburgh, Chris Roberts, Elizabeth Rosenberg, Angelina Roslik, Spencer Roth, Ben Ruby, Emily Ryan, Mark Safford, Douglas Saldana, Alli Schorn, Alex Schroeter, Peter Schulze, Rocky Schulze, Richard Schuster, Rachel Schwalbach, Kurt Seaberg, Donna Sellinger, Kait Sergenian, Lindy Sexton, Leesh Sharkstar, Noah Simcox, Violet Soule-Fahey, Kevin Springer, Sarah Steinman, Elise Stern, Huckleberry Stoike, Abe Stroock, Gretchen Strobel, Joe Sullivan, Natalie Taber, Anwen Taber-Buley, Amy Taylor, Emily May Taylor, Kristi Ternes, Nicole Terry, Telsche Thiessen, Stefan Thust, Duane Tougas, Nick Tousley, Flor Trevino, Liz Turan, Annie U’Ren, Genaro Valentine, Jami Viergets, Sarah Vig, Jes Vos, Rachel W, Andrew Wagner, Vanessa Walek, Maren Ward, Kirsten Weigmann, Trevor Wennblom, Isaac West, Kirstin Wiegman, Martin Wigert, Arwen Wilder, Inga Wing, Aaron Wise, Sarah Wolbert, Aby Wolf, Carlos Wong, Alexandra Zavyalova, Forrest Zoll

This is a test of the BareBones Feedburner email delivery system.

We are attempting to iron out some problems with the system.

If you have the time, please send a message to nickverde@barebonespuppets.org if you receive this post in an email.

Thanks!

Art by Munir Kahar - Graphic Design by Giuliana Ciabo

A Fistful of Dirt:
How the Death Was Won

BareBones Productions Presents the Eighteenth Annual Halloween Outdoor Puppet Extravaganza!

October 22, 23, 29, 30, 31, 2011

Hidden Falls Regional Park

The Halloween Extravaganza is both “pay-what-you-can” and “pay-what-it’s-worth-to-you”. The production is grassroots community theater at its “rootsiest” and our fabulous audience loyally supports half of what it costs each year. Please be generous.

This activity is funded, in part, by the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund as appropriated by the Minnesota State Legislature with money from the vote of the people of Minnesota on November 4, 2008.

Dedication to Roy McBride

The 2011 Halloween Show was dedicated to the life of Roy McBride who, as we say, “crossed the veil” between this world and the next on July 29th. Roy was a long-time poet and visual artist on the local spoken word and puppetry scenes and was a colleague, friend, teacher, and inspiration to many of us. In BareBones circles, Roy is immortalized as a Beat Poet Rat in the “Trail” scene from Petrafied: A Puppet Fairytale, improvising ten years ago on how “still we survive”.
Roy believed that each one of us is an artist and that art brings all of us into community.
Tonight, call Roy’s name, improvise a line of poetry of your own, and listen for that quietest voice behind the biggest smile that the world has known, riffing back across the shortest distance between here and the farthest place that love will reach.

Roy McBride

Wounded eyes of history. Light.
Touch in the shadow of the steel beams.
Bright eyes; fields of harvest, fields of flowers,
fields of wildness beside roads.
Dark adventure of morning. Alien landscape.
Creatures of herding anon. And none. And none.
Touch. Touch.
Light.

From the poem MN City by Roy McBride, 1976

Read more about the BareBones Halloween Extravaganza 2011, including comments from the audience, on the Fistful of Dirt home page.

BareBones Halloween Extravaganza 2011 WANTS YOU to come perform with us!

This mammoth community cast of puppeteers, dancers, actors, aerialists, stilters, and more gathers each Fall to create a spectacle celebrating the turn of the seasons and honoring the arc of death along the circle of our lives. If you want to perform, this is grassroots community theater and there is a place for you regardless of your level of experience!

A Fistful of Dirt: How the Death Was Won is specifically looking to cast the following roles:

• Tengu Spirits – Inspired by Japanese tengu (spirits of arrogant or vain people who live in the mists), the tengu in this story are mischievous creatures who have taken over the Veil between the living and the dead. They move like they’re half-ape, half-chicken, and perform throughout most of the show.
• Veilettes – These 6 ethereal beings have costumes that transform and function like a butoh dance-style Greek chorus, echoing the emotional content of each scene. They perform throughout the show both within the audience and in the performing arena.
• Flag/Lantern Bearers – For a funeral procession.
• Shadow Puppeteers – Various roles.
• Puppeteers – Especially for a mob scene of elders, creatures, and appliances that can’t die.
• Actors – Especially for mob scene.

For more information:

• Scottie Hall (Production Manager) at 415-640-2116.
• Or, just come to one of our remaining Community Build Workshops on Saturday, October 15 from 1-5pm or Tuesday October 18 and Thursday, October 20 from 7-9pm.

Build Site:

• Sisters’ Camelot, 2310 Snelling Ave, Minneapolis (Behind Coastal Seafoods in Seward Neighborhood)

Rehearsal Site:

• Hidden Falls Regional Park – North Gate (Magoffin Ave) Entrance - 1305 S Mississippi River Blvd, St Paul

Over 100  fabulous Crew Volunteers are required to create and produce the epic annual Halloween Outdoor Puppet Extravaganza.

There is something for anyone and everyone who wants to join in.

Please use the Volunteer Form below to sign up for truly extraordinary Halloween volunteer experience.

Photos of the BareBones Halloween Extravaganza 2011 build at Sisters Camelot on Sunday October 18, from Jayme Halbritter.

View more at Jayme’s Picasa site

Photos of the BareBones Halloween Extravaganza 2011 rehearsal at Hidden Falls park on Sunday October 2, from Munir Kahar.

You are invited to the Community Kickoff for the 18th Annual Halloween Outdoor Puppet Extravaganza!  At the Community Kickoff, everyone will meet each other, be introduced to the project staff and view the storyboard.  “The Build” will then begin in the last half of the Kickoff so be prepared to start papier-mache and cut cardboard!

• Date:  WE 09/14/11
• Time:  7:00-9:00pm.
• Place:  Sisters’ Camelot  at 2310 Snelling Ave  in Minneapolis.

The 2011 Halloween Build Site at Sisters’ Camelot is directly adjacent to the Hiawatha LRT line and the Hiawatha Bike Trail ramp at E 24th Street.

The complete Halloween Calendar for SEP-OCT-NOV may be viewed on the Calendar Page, or you can use this downloadable and printable version.

To volunteer, contact the Halloween Volunteer Coordinator, Anna Cioffi, at 651-815-9118 or send Anna a message with the contact form.  Or, just show up at any scheduled Halloween event.

Please note that the Community Kickoff has moved to Wednesday night this year instead of the usual Thursday night.  Also, the Build Workshops will be taking place this year on Monday and Wednesday evenings until the start of  “Tech Week” instead of on the usual Tuesday and Thursday evenings.  The schedule for Tech Week through opening night will then be the same as in recent years with the final two Build Workshops on Tuesday & Thursday nights.

Everyone is invited to Summer Storyboarding for the 18th Annual Halloween Outdooor Puppet Extravaganza!  Bring your visions, dreams, and ideas and join the front-end, grassroots, community process that begins this year’s Halloween Show.

Five Sunday afternoons from Noon – 2 pm.
August 14, 21, & 28, and September 4 & 11. The Halloween Storyboard will be finished by the Equinox!

Location has been changed to the new space of Sisters’ Camelot, which is also the location for the Halloween Community Kickoff on September 14 and the Halloween Community Build Workshops.

Sisters’ Camelot · 2310 Snelling Ave · Minneapolis, MN 55404

Sisters’  is at the corner of Snelling Ave and E 24th Street in the Seward Neighborhood of south Minneapolis. This is behind Coastal Seafoods at the dead-end of the street used to reach United Noodles.  This is two blocks south of the Franklin Ave LRT stop via the Hiawatha Bike Trail and directly adjacent to the trail exit at 24th St.  There is on-site and on-street parking.

BareBones provided a late-Summer residency in visual and spectacle arts at TCHDC’s Liberty Plaza housing development in St. Paul, MN.  Resident youth enrolled in the Summer Program at the Liberty Plaza Resource Center spent the first two weeks of August at Excursions Into High Art learning three different kinds of  “high arts”.  Participants made papier-mache pole puppets, built and launched solid-engine model rockets, and learned to stilt.

On the last Friday, everyone joined in a community parade that showcased their puppetry, stilting, and parading skills. BareBones artists for this residency included Mark Safford, Tara Fahey, Xena Huff, Shelley Chinander, Munir Kahar, and Ryan Billig.

BareBones provided a two-week June residency in visual and spectacle arts at TCHDC’s Calibre Ridge Resource Center in Roseville, MN.  Resident youth at Calibre Ridge Apartments spent the first two weeks out of school at Excursions Into High Art, engaged in the practice of three different “high arts”.  Participants made papier-mache pole puppets, built and launched solid engine model rockets, and practiced stilt walking.  On the last Friday, everyone joined in a community parade that showcased their puppetry, stilting, and parading skills.

Mark Safford’s log from the Excursions Into High Art Residency

Barebones excursion into High Art, at Calibre Ridge, began with Artists Xena Huff, Mark Safford, and Tara Fahey (longtime Barebones Artist Shelly Chinander had a family conflict the first week, but came in to the program, like great guns, in the second week of programming). We were met at the site by many of our excited participants from former years Trevon, Jared, Jada, Kayla, Don Don to name a few.

We were a little late getting started but I had incredible help from the above mentioned, prepping the stilts and taking out the materials for the projects.

Rebecca was terrific support and directed the children in bringing their signed forms back, which had the feel of watching a relay race The numbers of children participating hung around 15-18 with some additional kids coming in the last hour There were overall closer to 26 kids served, but not every kid showing up every day Becca was also a quick and confident study in stilt tying which was a real asset as there was a strong drive to get up on stilts from all who were there.

We started out with name tags, and a circle name game, with a little debriefing and then after a little discussion up they went on the stilts for more than an hour. We had a break with watermelon for snack on the grassy hill, as it was warm it turned out to be a “three watermelon” week. After snack, cardboard armatures were made and paper mache’-ed in incredible warm wind that made things difficult. Inside the garage, Xena was directing the stilt construction with sawing and measuring going on like gangbusters. Tara and Mark stapled like mad as the children bent and shaped cardboard strips – occasionally had to chase them down. The wind continued throughout the week and made me think that kites or kite puppets might be neat sometime at this site.

We followed the format of stilting first and then Mache and construction after snack for the whole of the week and by the end we had two giants, three dragons, an octopus, a globe, a bee and a curious fashion statement with cardboard strips. We also had visits from past alum of the program; Marky, and Dre who were as tall now as they had been on stilts as children. Both young men gave the stilts a try and found they still had the knack.

On Thursday we began talking about air pressure and launching pop bottles at about forty pounds psi in a terrific circular tarmac that was perfect for these launches, but it was the following week we launched into rockets with vigor creating Parachutes from Estes kits and using poster board to make cylinders and cones for the two liter pop bottles.

The weather was a little nasty on Tuesday and built up to a tornado warning at the end of the day. The energy inside was also difficult, as there is no large space at the site inside and the garage was increasingly full of puppets. During the time we were inside, balloons were passed out, and while they were inflated, Mark talked about Newton, equal and opposite forces and how the balloon was different than the bottle. The children experimented with blowing the balloons up in different amounts and releasing them and predictably there was pandemonium, capped off by the tornado warning. We were able to start creating engine mounts with some of the older and more focused participants and by the end of the week there were some beautiful rockets, very heavy on the paint, truly High Art.

Wednesday and Thursday were spent painting and stilting alternately with rigging pole puppets for our final Parade Launch and Pizza party 10, 9, 8, 7…

The final day of the residency was fantastic. The weather was bright clear and cool. The parade had a real drumming section, for the first year, at Xena’s suggestion. This gave a real pulse to the parade which was contagious, and spread to the upper stories of some of the residences. One in particular which was jammed with kids yelling the parade play by play “There goes an Octopus!” as Justin’s creation danced by. Montee was brilliant on one of the Giant pole puppets, which he performed while stilting with Steven and Trevon, each on a hand. Jared was brilliant in the Backpack Giant chasing around with young ones on the side of the road.

The parade this year did not have the turn out that we had at the show the previous year which was our largest audience ever. Post parade it was time to launch the Model Rockets. Set up on an ideal circular tarmac turn about, away from the homes, we launched from the center of this blacktop. The children were hanging onto the curb with a couple of exceptions that stopped the launch, as bicyclists entered the sixty foot diameter circle to witness what was going on. Johnette who is a natural engineer, was very curious about the construction of the igniters and how they worked illuminating a missed directive to spend some discussion time with this. As a result three people were party to a discussion from which all would have benefited. The other intended activity, which we were unable to actualize, was the sewing. We ended up using staples. This was disheartening to me as this group had some amazing sewers two years ago when we did quilting and stilting and I wanted to keep their chops up.

The rockets were very, very successful racing up out of sight on a clear day, falling back into vision, opening and falling slowly toward the grassy slope to the southwest of the tarmac and in four cases landing within forty feet of the launch (This is good!) As a consequence only one rocket was lost in the glade to the west getting caught in a tree. Montee’s Blue Fire was perfect in every respect .Blue with a blue chute it floated back onto the tarmac, and was caught by its creator not twenty feet from where he launched it. We were able to launch some rockets multiple times so that even kids without a rocket, like Steven, who had variable attendance, were able make the electrical launch connection.

The kids that made rockets were thrilled, and everyone enjoyed them. Xena made four pairs of stilts with the kids collectively, which were a real point of pride, energy and excitement .Tara Fahey’s and Shelly’s mache’ skills and quiet firm direction bore fruit in the pole puppets, from Jada’s Earth, to Joshua’s bee, they were phenomenal.

Costs attendant with the three activities seemed to creep beyond their budget even with the donation of many supplies; foam noodles, PVC poles, Staples, staplers, and fabric (in the case of the pole puppets), electric cord and alligator clips, (in the case of the rockets), and duct tape and foam (in the case of the stilts). This said, many of the materials that were purchased will be reused at the Liberty Plaza residency and with the children there. With care both camps materials in synthesis will be on budget. We did have additional support of percussionist Ryan Billig and Javanese master painter Munir Kahar, who were outstanding although not originally in the budget and will be paid out of preparation monies. One reason that this camp tends to have a higher material cost than Liberty Plaza is that the monies for the Celebration Pizza come from the Materials Budget effectively reducing it by eighty dollars more than its sister program. The other practical reality is that since it comes first, it tends to show the cost for many materials that are used collectively by the two programs. (Examples being: much of the launch system used for the rockets, and the paint used on all the projects, and spare rocket parts.)

The Pizza’s timing this year was also perfect rolling up with the descent of the last rocket and seemed to underscore that this year there was a feeling of synchronicity within our inquiry into high art, and as Xena said “The rockets were perfect!”

The kids learned a little about physics (aerodynamics, momentum, pressure and electricity), construction, painting, drumming, and wielding puppets on poles, (sometimes on stilts at the same time!) all to brilliant effect.

BareBones Productions provided a one-week residency in March teaching visual art and parading at Opportunity Neighborhood in Brooklyn Center, MN.  Resident youth at Garden View Apartments spent their Spring Break doing Excursions into High Art.  Participants created pole puppets, designed and launched soda bottle rockets, made stilts and practiced stilting.  The week ended with a community parade displaying their puppetry and stilt walking.

Photos by Sean Smuda of the 2010 BareBones Halloween Extravaganza, “Carnetheria”.

Sunday, October 24, 2010 Performance




Photos by Jayme Halbritter of the 2010 BareBones Halloween Extravaganza, Carnetheria.

Carnetheria Closing Weekend Performances, October 29, 30, 31, 2010.




The 2010 Halloween Show is dedicated to the loving memory of Ethan Johnson who crossed from This World to the Other World on September 21, 2010, the last day of Summer. Ethan found his way to the BareBones Halloween show in 2006 during production of The Uninvited Guest and, in addition to his myriad other involvements, passions, and fascinations for which he was very well-known, was hooked on the BareBones puppet scene ever since.

Ethan was a steady-on builder, artist, puppeteer, performer, helper, grant writer, planner, supporter, and organizer for BareBones Productions during the four sweet years that we knew him. Carnetheria is the fifth Halloween Outdoor Puppet Extravaganza for which he was an anchor of a volunteer, and now he is both the farthest and the nearest that we can imagine.

Ethan is profoundly missed, his loss extraordinarily grieved, and his life wildly celebrated tonight at Carnetheria.

Woodcut print of Ethan Johnson by Yana Frank, from a photo by Jayme Halbritter

• Please visit the Ethan Johnson Memorial website.

BareBones presents Carnetheria, a puppet spectacle that plumbs the deep and darkest depths of a dreamlike Carnival for all ages.

A special BareBones “Thank You!” to all who made the 2010 BareBones Halloween Extravaganza a huge success!  Carnetheria played for a record five performances before a total audience estimated at a record 6,384.

Using larger-than-life puppets, shadow puppets, bike puppets, costumes, masks, song, dance, stilting, aerialism, fire artistry, and original music by a live community orchestra, the BareBones Halloween Outdoor Puppet Extravaganza delivered an unforgettable nighttime spectacular through the best traditions of community theater, public pageantry, and seasonal celebration.

This year’s show was based on concerns that the use of technology and energy without consideration of the possible consequences is causing irrevocable damage, not only to the planet, but to our very humanity, and was inspired by Ray Bradbury’s novel, Something Wicked This Way Comes. Carnetheria was an allegorical tale wherein a mysterious Carnival represented the world and we were tempted to exploit its vast resources for temporary satiation of our desires for comfort and security. At the same time, we acknowledged that through transformation and acceptance of the transitory nature of reality, healing is possible.

Please visit the Carnetheria page for information about the show.

This activitity is funded, in part, by the Minnesota arts and cultural heritage fund as appropriated by the Minnesota State Legislature with money from the vote of the people of Minnesota on November 4, 2008.

Artists work toward the 2010 Barebones Halloween Show at Sister’s Camelot in South Minneapolis. Video and blog post by Sheila Regan from City Pages. Read her blog post about BareBones, posted below the video, or at the City Pages website.

BareBones’ Halloween Show Goes Carnival at Hidden Falls

If you’re looking for an outdoor spectacle event with giant puppet creations, robots, hornets, stilts, aerial artists, fire, and original music by a live orchestra, then look no further than Hidden Falls Regional Park, where BareBones Productions presents their 17th Annual Halloween Outdoor Puppet Extravaganza. This year’s show, called Carnetheria has a carnival theme and takes the audience on an experiential journey of visual effects. BareBones Board Treasurer Brent Harring states that this year’s show has very little dialogue, instead allowing the audience to make personal interpretations through the imagery. There is also an ambiguity in the narrative, “creating striking imagery that is thematically developed without being overt.” The production has layers of intention that mix and mingle, so audiences can pull out the things that resonate with them.

This year’s Halloween pageant is directed by Mark Safford and Andrew Wagner. Dozens of people have been working for weeks putting the show together at Sister’s Camelot, a nonprofit organization that delivers organic food to low-income neighborhoods around the Twin Cities.​

In addition to the carnival theme, one of the show’s inspirations comes from the Ray Bradberry novel, Something Wicked This Way Comes. There is also a message about how technology and energy use wreaks havoc on the planet and humanity. Touching on the oil spill, with a bit of allusion to predator drones, Carnetheria has many themes steeped in its highly visual production.

“This show is an excursion into fall, and it has also been bent by personal experience,” states Safford. The process this year was darkened early on by a death in the community when Brass Messengers member Ethan Johnson died in September in a car accident. There is an altar for Ethan in the Sisters of Camelot workspace. “There’s a kind of toughness in the loss,” Safford says, “and a lot of people were kind of reeling.” Part of the unimaginableness of his death has spilled into the story. “There’s some more difficult, dramatic stuff this year than we’ve really ever done before.” His spirit will surely be present in what is much more than a play, but rather more of an experience of ritual, of art, of ceremony, and of celebration.

It’s a good idea to carpool to the show, as there is limited parking. The entrance to the performance area is at the North Gate at 1305 Mississippi River Boulevard South in St. Paul. There will be straw bale seating for about 1,000 people but you can bring a blanket or a lawn chair. It can get pretty cold so dress warm. There will also be an audience reception each night after the pageant until 10 p.m. with free hot food and drink by Sister’s Camelot and live music by the Brass Messengers. Shows begin at 7 p.m. Fridays through Sundays, from Saturday, October 23 through Sunday, October 31.

-Sheila Regan, City Pages

Photos from Jayme Halbritter, documenting the preparation for the 2010 BareBones Halloween Extravaganza, Carnetheria.

Kickoff Meeting: Sept. 16; Build: 10/14; Rehearsals: 9/19, 10/17, 10/28




A water puppeteer and water tiger.

A student rasping her water puppet.

BareBones Productions, in collaboration with Concordia University – St. Paul, recently completed a two-week visual and performing arts residency at the Liberty Plaza apartments of the Twin Cities Housing Development Corporation (TCHDC) .  The residency was held from August 2nd – 13th in St. Paul.

Drop-in participants from ages 5 – 14 created Vietnamese water puppets and papier-mache masks, and learned puppeteering and stilting for a walking parade and water puppet show that was held on-site on Friday, August 13th, before an audience of family and neighbors.

BareBones staff at Liberty Plaza included Shelley Chinander, Brent Harring, Xena Huff, and Mark Safford.