Productions
Portfolio BiographyHire Me
Recent Work:
Productions
Portfolio BiographyHire Me
Recent Work:
CAST:Kate Tobie- Spider
Akiko Ostlund- Web Weaver
Orren Fen - Fly
Katie Burgess - Worm
Keegan Robinson- Ensemble
Edison Kaufman - Ensemble
Bailey Shatz-Akin - Ensemble
Anna Schloerb - Ensemble
Finley Anderson-Newton - Ensemble
Kestrel Fen - Child Ensemble
MUSICIANS: Spencer Polk - Viola
Alys Poplett - Mandolin and Violin
Kasi Miseldine - Saxophone and Flute
Adam Johnson - Trumpet
Conor Cusack - Percussion
Signe Lisadotter- Percussion
Adrian Cox-Thurmond - Accordion
CREATIVE/PRODUCTION:Creator and Director - Orren Fen
Co-Director - Katie Burgess
Choreographer - Arwen Wilder
Music Director, Composer - Adrian Cox-Thurmond
Producers - Katie Burgess and Orren Fen
Stage Manager - Ches Cipriano
Lighting Designer - Alice Endo
Sound Designer - Richard Graham
Sound Board Operator, Program Design- Thayer Slichter
Poster Designer - Jake Quatt
Grant Writing Support - Julie Zhou and Steve Ackerman
Production Photographer- Nicole Neri
Puppets, Set and Costumes Designed and Built by Orren Fen with help from Steve Ackerman- Set Construction
Abby Palen- Painting on Grandma and Ant Puppets
Jake Quatt and Finley Anderson-newton- Moth Puppets
Syd Peterson- Set Painting Details
Alys Poplett- Spider Butt Assistance
Show DescriptionSet on the windowsill of a recently deceased Grandmother's home, Bug Ballet is a large puppet and dance spectacle, centered on the creeping, otherworldly, and often overlooked creatures we share our lives and homes with. Bug Ballet takes vague inspiration from the virtuosity of the ballet form, but throws many of the typical rules and structures out the window, replacing them with giant puppets and theatrical dance.
Bug Ballet is a declaration that what is around us, building webs in our minds, metamorphosing in our bodies is sacred, our slime and goops are precious, and our bodies are meant to squirm and Transform in liberation. So that when we’ve passed, if we are lucky, our bodies will become grand stages for the bugs to dance upon.
Directors Notes from March 2026 ProductionPuppetry was once described to me as the moment when you are about to fall asleep and through your drowsy eyelids you see a figure in the corner of your room, and you jump up, startled, only to realize it was just your hat and coat sitting on your desk chair. That act of surprise; suspension of disbelief. I feel that same sense of surprise and disbelief when a tiny spider lands on my arm or I feel an itch on my neck and think it’s a mosquito.
In Feb 2024 I was invited by my dance teacher to perform in what was described to me as a “cabaret evening showcasing Minneapolis Public High School Dance” so with a dream of a bug ballet trickling into my brain I first created a worm puppet, and performed a sultry striptease. It wasn't until the day of the performance that I learned the so-called “cabaret” mostly consisted of 5th grade band performances and kindergarten dance recitals. The evening turned into a spectacle of my Trans sexuality being performed to an audience of mostly parents and confused but hyped up 7 year olds.
One year later in March 2025 I created two scenes from Bug Ballet to be performed to an over sold out “Weird Stuff Only Show” at the Avalon Theater, this time with a cast of 5 and 12 musicians, the room (and stage) was packed to the brim with primarily my Queer and Trans comrades and beloveds. The crowd was presented with a fly in love with a sandwich and a squirming pile of maggots, and they responded with more shrieks and hollers than I have ever felt while on stage, the Transsexuals saw themselves in the bugs, the bugs saw themselves in the Transexuals.
Since then Bug Ballet has always been on my mind. I've spent the last year making puppets, organizing music meetings at May Day Cafe, and building a team comprised of some of my closest friends and family. Spending the first months of 2026 amidst federal occupation while working on this performance, wasn't easy, but wasn't without joy. Warming my hands up after coming in from the streets by dipping them into hot paper-mache paste. Sitting in silence after tragedy filled days, thinking about the bugs buried in the dirt awaiting spring. The last couple of months have been really hard for us in south Minneapolis. And I’ve first-hand seen Trans and Queer people take strong places in the front lines of our resistance. Bug Ballet is foremost a gift to you, my community, may it be a moment of celebration.
For years I've been performing cabaret work and designing for south Minneapolis spectacles. This production is my first full length work. It's been such a n honor to be supported and uplifted by my community throughout this process, and to present you all with a show, amidst the horrors that reminds me to love my transgender self, and roll in the dirt.
Bug ballet special thanks
Lizz Windnagel, Rachel Sadie-Liberman, Tuesday Utz, Helena Howard, Thair Thursday, Emily Kastrul, Mikey Marget, Willow Waters, Mary Traxler, Syd KC, Elina Kotlyar, Julie Zhou, Emily Ryan, Johnny Wakefield, Willa Fen, Dio Cramer, Sandy Speiler, Sarah Ryan, Drew d'lakes, Jean and Pat Ryan, Anna Van Sice, Mickey Ennis, Maddie Tuggle, Wyrm, Amber Moore, Syd Petersen, Arlo, Hannah Longly, Ozzy, Carlisle Evans-Peck, Magdalena Holtz, Coal, Olli Johnson, Pete Talbot, Val and Morgan at MOVO, Chris Lutter, Mark Safford, Smart Set Printing, Jo Kellen, Mark Ruark, Mary Ellen Kaluza,
Bug Ballet was First Produced in collaboration with the Southern Theater as part of their
2025-2026 Performance Partnership Program
Funded with support from the Jim Henson Foundation, Trans Justice Funding Project and the Tri M Foundation
2025-2026 Performance Partnership Program
Funded with support from the Jim Henson Foundation, Trans Justice Funding Project and the Tri M Foundation