It has been a month of firsts for me, my first Festival, first live show featuring modern dance, First Shadow puppet show and now my first immersive theatrical experience. The production does not take place in a traditional performance space, but in what appears to be a business location in an out of the way mini strip mall. You will not be judged, given that it is Halloween, for wondering if you’ve been lured to this location never to be heard from again. I have come to appreciate nontraditional performances spaces, sometimes they are just the thing to create intimacy and connection as in the Church basement for Rogue Prince, or to create atmosphere such as The Southern Theater with it’s crumbling castle interior perfect for the TCHF. This space also was well utilized to create the impression it was after. The show runs about 1 hour, no intermission obviously.
Here is the set up of Feed Your Head, the audience are all new hires at the Best Butter Company and we have arrived for orientation. We are given name tags and either a blue or red pen to write your names with. Blue means you are ok with the actors touching you, Red means you prefer not to be touched. Don’t worry about going blue the most that will happen is a touch on the shoulder, normal day to day contact. Orientation which is led by Bunny played with super insincere enthusiasm thinly masking her judgement and disapproval by Clara Kennedy. We are led into a room where we watch the obligatory video presentation about the history of the Best Butter Company and a message from the current head of the family run company. If you’ve ever had to sit through one of those you will appreciate the humorous touches.
From there we begin a tour of the facility and meet some of the other employees. Quickly the whole thing goes from a silly spin on a new hire orientation to a variation on the Mad Hatters Tea party. There is the Accountant who gives a presentation on the companies financials which is really a magic show by slight of hand wizard Steven Paul Carlson. The other Employees are: Hatter played with the requisite anarchic bent by Dominic Rodgers, Harry played by Christine Pietz and Mousey played by Ella Dierberger. Each member of the cast commits to their characters and plays up the absurdities pulling smiles by their work even when they are not part of the imminent joke.
To tell anymore of what happens would be to give away the surprises and much of the fun is in the unexpected. The humor ranges from lounge act to Looney Tunes and it all lands perfectly. It may not be the scariest thing going this Halloween but there is more than a touch of madness at work here. Per the Companies website the show is appropriate for ages 12 and up. I can’t think of a more unique and fun activity for a family to do over the next three days then take in one of these shows. It’s fun, it’s not too long, it’s full of humor, a great introduction to kids that maybe haven’t been exposed to much in the way of theater. But also for older kids who are interested in theater it’s a great display of some wonderful creativity and spot on character work. Don’t get me wrong though, you don’t have to have kids, there wasn’t a single person under 20 in my group and I think it’s safe to say we all had a great time. The Show runs Oct. 31st thru Nov. 2nd Three times nightly 6:30, 8:00, and 9:30 for more info and to buy tickets click here https://www.feedyourhead.show/
The Stages of MN 
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