Take a local fringe theater troupe whose founding members have backgrounds ranging from puppetry to dance to sculpture. Next, mix in 12 performers, a handful of costume and lighting designers, and artwork from local artists, and add an Edgar Allan Poe story about a plague called “Red Death.” Finally, throw in an original score from local experimental composer Tim Donahue and you get Sandbox Theatre’s The Horse, The Bird, The Monkey & The Dancer (HBMD)—the Minneapolis-based company’s seventh show since forming in 2005. And while it’s a relatively young theater company, Sandbox has quickly gained a reputation for its visually rich shows. Its latest effort is a demonstration of collaborative theater at its finest.

Loosely based off of the Poe story, HBMD is essentially a hero’s journey through seven scenes, each bathed in a different color with its own theme. Along the way, our hero encounters the play’s namesake animals, each of which represent different societal institutions. Founding members Ryan Hill and Derek Miller say that more time was spent behind the scenes on this show than with Sandbox’s more spontaneous early shows—particularly because HBMD is so visually heavy. Hill worked with local designers for more than a year to bring the story alive on stage. “We like working with designers out of the theater field to bring something different to the production,” says Hill, who commissioned artwork and sets from celebrated local product designer Michael Carina, as well as costumes from Twin Cities fashion designers such as Anna Lee, organizer of Voltage and MN Fashion.

But true to Sandbox’s impulsive roots, no one really knows what the final product will look and sound like until the first performance has finished. “If it serves the show, we’ll switch things right before actors walk out on stage,” Hill says. “The process is the product.” Because the troupe leaves room for spontaneity as the production shapes up, some last-minute fear is not out of the ordinary.

“If there’s no terror involved, if working on this does not take something from you, you’re not trying your best,” Hill says. +


The Horse, The Bird, The Monkey
& the Dancer
11/7–22; Red Eye Theatre, 15 W. 14th St., Mpls.
612.870.7531; aboutthisplay.com