31st Halloween Extravaganza

Nov 1, 2, 3, and 4 2024

Powderhorn Park, Minneapolis

puppetry · stilting · dance · fire · live music · song

When Calamity Strikes

An abstract illustration of a face. "When Calamity Strikes"

Barebone's 31st annual puppet extravaganza, will explore the relationship between technology, climate change, and genocide.
The title, When Calamity Strikes, refers to the many layers of calamity that we experience as a collective and as individuals, piecing together what it means to navigate these instances both locally and globally.

From the beginning of our explorations of these themes, it was vital that we not approach this from an able-ist standpoint. We wanted to disrupt the common and problematic dichotomy between the “mechanical” and the “natural”, because in fact such a dichotomy doesn’t exist. It is a spectrum. From imperialist wars for oil to neo-liberal mining death camps, capitalists are using technology to try to dominate the planet. From within the resulting mass extinction event facing all of us today, we proclaim: all of existence is sacred; all actions are not.

We are all a part of this world! And it is our great challenge and purpose to discover together how we can co-evolve, co-create, and co-exist within it.

Click Here For The 2024 Extravaganza Program

Highlights From the Show

Photos by MindTwist Studio; Video by AllwaysFP

Photo by MindTwist Studio

Photo by MindTwist StudioPhoto by MindTwist Studio

Photo by MindTwist Studio

Audience shines phone lights during performance

Photo by MindTwist Studio

2024 Directors

Walken Schweigert

Jäc Pau

Learn About Walken and Jäc

Walken Schweigert is a queer/transgender actor, musician, composer and director from St. Paul, MN. A 2019 Jerome Foundation Fellow, he was mentored from 2012-2017 by Stacy Klein and Carlos Uriona of the internationally renowned Double Edge Theatre in Ashfield, MA. He is the Founder/Co-Artistic Director of Open Flame Theatre, which produced his newest opera, The Garden (originally commissioned by the American Composers Forum), at The Southern Theater in Minneapolis May, 2023. Walken’s work has been performed across the country, including an original operetta that was commissioned by the Washington National Opera and premiered at the Kennedy Center in January, 2023. In addition to being a freelance performer, director, and composer, he is also a member of the Occult-inspired, baroque-horror, Detroit-based band CRUNE, and a collective member of Philadelphia Community Farm in Osceola, WI. He is in training to be an Alexander Technique teacher through Soma Studios in Minneapolis MN and is also enrolled at United Theological Seminary, studying interreligious chaplaincy, paganism, theology in the arts and Queer and Trans Theologies.

Jäc Pau is a Minneapolis based theatre artist, theologian, caregiver, and a recent graduate from United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities where they received two academic awards. For the last 10 years, Jäc has worked on the summer touring show with Mixed Precipitation, as stage manager, choreographer, and director. They have worked closely on projects with BareBones and In The Heart of the Beast Theatre, and have extensive solo experience as a goofy clown burlesque performer. Jäc lives in south Minneapolis with their partner and dog and works for Clare Housing.

Collaboration: Jäc and Walken have been collaborating artistically off and on for 8 years. Seasoned performers and facilitators, Walken identifies as trans, Jäc identifies as genderqueer, and we both identify as gay. We have made work within and outside of the queer community in the Twin Cities for cumulatively just shy of 30 years. Rituals and practices around Halloween, death and dying are very important to us, and informed why we both sought/are seeking spiritual education at United Theological Seminary in St. Paul. We are honored and excited to be directing BareBones this year!