Theatre fans will soon have the opportunity to see aliens, spaceships and out-of-this-world visuals from the comfort of a Brooklyn Park home — or just outside of it, at least. Through the Neighborhood Garage Tour, three performers from the Off-Leash Area company will don colorful costumes with the goal of transporting viewers to a far-away planet, telling a story of cross-cultural cooperation along the way.
The Garage Tour aims to bring original, professional dance and theater productions directly to Twin Cities neighborhoods with affordability and accessibility at the forefront. It’s a mission that Christina Stensby of Brooklyn Park connected with, inspiring her to be one of this year’s hosts.
“It’s the community building of it all, exposing people to theatre and other projects that at times might feel like they’re too far away, or you have to get dressed up and be super serious about them,” Stensby said. “I just feel this is a far more accessible way to get people interested.”
Stensby opened up her home to Off-Leash Area after a Garage Tour performance elsewhere in her neighborhood piqued her interest last year.
“I was very excited to meet them and learn about their direction and what they’re trying to accomplish,” Stensby said. “I completely support the idea of bringing theater into the community and having community bonding events. It just felt like a perfect match.”
Leading up to this month’s performances, Stensby discovered a side effect of bringing a theater production into her garage. “It’s absolutely great motivation to accomplish a few projects in my garage that I’ve been ignoring,” she said.
The performance featured in this year’s tour is titled “Stardust Rendezvous” and centers around three space travelers, each from their own remote galaxy, who simultaneously crash onto an asteroid in deep space. Language barriers and differing approaches to problem solving cause the wildly different characters to butt heads, leading viewers to wonder if they will ever escape the desolate landscape.
Jennifer Ilse, co-founder and co-artistic director of Off-Leash Area, mimes as if piloting an alien spacecraft during a Sept. 10 dress rehearsal of “Stardust Rendezvous” in a Minneapolis garage.
(Sun Photo by Jack Wiedner)
Jennifer Ilse, co-founder and co-artistic director of Off-Leash Area, is one of the show’s three performers. Orange and yellow hues form the base of her costume, which is covered in colorful strings evoking wiring and circuitry. Her character speaks in trumpet-like noises and moves in a way that is both graceful and a little jittery.
In Ilse’s view, the contrast between complicated visuals and a straightforward plot gives the show appeal for all ages.
“We try to make the art very layered so that people who’ve seen tons and tons of performances can appreciate the nuances, while people who’ve never seen a performance can still feel like they totally understand everything,” Ilse said. “We try to keep the message simple. It’s about having a good time and being part of your community, that’s the root of the program.”
Dialogue takes a backseat in “Stardust Rendezvous,” particularly during the opening scene of the 45-minute production. A lack of spoken words — in human language, for that matter — places the focus on other aspects of the theater-going experience, drawing attention to choreography, music, projection and lighting design.
Paul Herwig founded Off-Leash Area alongside Ilse in 1999 and serves as the company’s other artistic director. The duo runs rehearsals of Garage Tour productions out of their own backyard with the help of a rotating crew.
In addition to playing an uptight alien dressed in red, Herwig designed digitally-projected backdrops and other visuals that give the “Stardust Rendezvous” set a uniquely handcrafted look.
Off-Leash Area Performer Jesse Schmitz-Boyd lifts his arms while kneeling on the set of “Stardust Rendezvous” Sept. 10, in preparation for opening night of the Neighborhood Garage Tour.
(Sun Photo by Jack Wiedner)
Performer Jesse Schmitz-Boyd said that, in addition to the set, the characters themselves are also crucial to worldbuilding.
“In the rehearsal process, we spend so much time just figuring out the universe that the piece exists in,” Performer Jesse Schmitz-Boyd said. “When that kind of came into clarity, that was the special nugget that really let me settle into the whole tour.”
Schmitz-Boyd has been performing with Off-Leash Area for a few years now. In “Stardust Rendezvous,” he appears in flowing blue fabric and speaks with a voice that can resemble either a whale’s call or a balloon losing air, depending on the emotions his ethereal character is attempting to convey.
For Schmitz-Boyd, the affordability of the Garage Tour performances makes them especially rewarding.
“The shows are donation based … and at this one show, maybe three years ago, there was a family with, like, nine kids in the neighborhood,” Schmitz-Boyd. “If you think about going to a traditional show and how much that would cost to a family of 11 … I thought that was a really, really special thing.”
This year’s tour kicked off Sept. 11 in St. Paul. Two performances will be held in Brooklyn Park, starting at 7 p.m. on both Friday, Sept. 18, and Saturday, Sept. 19. The address is 6349 Rhode Island Ave. N.
After a weekend in Brooklyn Park, the Garage Tour will head back south for performances at multiple Minneapolis locations.
Stardust Rendezvous has no set admission fee. Tickets can be reserved with a suggested donation of $5-30 at the following link: ticketstripe.com/off-leash-area-events.
More Off-Leash programs
In addition to more traditional theater performances and the Garage Tour program, Off-Leash Area also organizes a yearly Off-Kilter Cabaret — a variety show featuring performers and artists with disabilities.
The company is currently accepting proposals for the fifth-annual cabaret coming in February. The deadline for submissions is Oct. 23.
Learn more at offleasharea.org/off-kilter.