Our mission is to bring art into community and community into art, and YOU are that community!
The BareBones Annual Extravaganza relies on hundreds of folks to imagine, create, and perform the show. Starting in September, there are many opportunities to volunteer. For more info, read on, and/or email us at [email protected]
ANYONE can bring ideas for the show
ANYONE can make the puppets
ANYONE can perform in the show (no auditions)
ANYONE can jump in to help out in ways large and small
Community Visioning and Storyboarding Sessions
The annual Extravaganza springs from the imaginations of our entire community. Come to one of these sessions to share your ideas, wishes, and imaginings for the show. After these community sessions, this year’s paid artistic team will weave everyone’s ideas into a community-created performance/ritual related to grief, death, ancestors, loss, and remembering.
Community Puppet Making
Anyone can come to our community workshops and make puppets large and small! No experience is needed, our paid artists and community of volunteers will teach you and help you. Expect to make friends as well as puppets. Come a little or come a lot, no need to sign up. We often see folks go from “never made a puppet in my life” to expert puppet builder in just one show season. Come on your own or with a group of friends. Kids are super welcome to come and bring their grown people.
Perform in the Show
All ages and abilities, no experience needed, no auditions. The only requirement is to attend rehearsals. You can puppet big or little puppets. You can be in just one or in many parts of the show. If you want to learn to stilt or be part of the fire crew, we’ll teach you. Only the orchestra has limits on participants, as the small stage holds a limited number of musicians.
Radical Hospitality, What Is It?
Radical hospitality means that the social connections of our community are as important as all other aspects of our mission! One way we strengthen these connections is to provide snacks and meals at nearly all of our gatherings, build workshops, and rehearsals. If you love to cook, feed people, and/or set up nourishing spaces you can jump into hospitality volunteering!
Help Manage Our Dedicated Audiences on Show Nights
Many of our audience members have been coming to the show for a decade or two. Others are brand new to us. But all BareBones audiences are engaged, adventurous, and quite large! Help us manage the needs of our audiences on show nights while you also get to experience the magic of the show. We need a large crew of ushers, gate/ticket helpers, merch sellers, and safety team members to pull off a successful Extravaganza.