Design by @schmuppetspuppets
Shared Bill
CockRoach Church
Featuring a Special Surprise Guest
BY: Mystical AV Club & Schmuppets Puppets
An immersive art installation performance where audiences enter a cockroach church (no worries, it is an inclusive church, all insects are invited) and join for a ritualistic ceremony led by puppets, insect-clowns, a marionette bug band, a master of ceremonies initiating new worshippers via roach milk…and the power of the “divine”. The storytelling will incorporate an A/V component (some combination of video projection, original soundscapes, and/or our Trash Television wagon).
Yes, there will be cockroaches (not actual ones) (although we might bring a few dead ones).
Whimsical, with a healthy dose of disturbing, alluring, bizarre; like candy for your eyeballs that makes your brain go: “WTF?”
Themes: satire of religion, embracing the absurd, finding beauty in the deemed ugly.
We didn’t mean for it to get in. We didn’t mean for it to get this bad- it’s in the walls and it’s started taking people. If you see something f̷l̵i̶c̷k̶e̸r̵i̶n̴g̵ in the corner of your eyes or if you hear something at the back of your eustachian tubes or if you feel that creeping gnawing tingle at the back of your spine, it’s already too late. Please let house management know immediately.
Showtime
60 min | R
Saturday, Oct 17 7:30pm
Content Warning: Fake body fluids - breast milk, some spooky vibes, possibly odors and fake food. INSECTS (fake ones)
Bios
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Company
Mystical AV Club & Schmuppets Puppets
Victoria, Alesandra and Daniela are collaborating for the very first together. Victoria and Alesandra arrive from Arcata, while Daniela commutes all the way from mf Cincinnati, OH.
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Performer
Daniela N is a they/them who was born and raised in Bulgaria, EU, but somehow ended up living in Cincinnati, OH. They are a multi-disciplinary artist, puppeteer, draglesque performer and clown who tours the fringe festival waters (and other creative waters). Their artistic style is “finding beauty in the deemed ugly”. Daniela is a lover and a fighter for anything weird, bizarre and soul-freeing, and is currently saving money to move to the PNW.
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Performer
Alessandra Russo is a multidisciplinary artist, producer, and performer currently based in Arcata, California. A graduate of Dell’Arte International, she is a clown, mask-maker, and producer of ensemble-based devised theater. Her work lives somewhere between ecological inquiry and theatrical mischief: animistic, creature-forward, and driven by a deep love of the more-than-human world… alongside an unwavering belief that stupid shit deserves rigorous attention. She draws on her studies in mycology, botany, and scientific storytelling to create performances that feel equal parts ritual, experiment, and fever dream.
She is a co-founder of Mystical A/V Club, co-producer of the Ouroborotopia performance festival, and loves creating shows with her ensemble, Magenta Mountain. She is currently completing a self-designed program at Cal Poly Humboldt in Scientific Communication through Visual and Performing Arts, and has been clowning with Dell’Arte’s Healthcare Clowning program since 2024.
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Performer
Victoria Timoteo is a performer, theatre artist, and producer with 15 years of experience specializing in clown, physical, and devised theatre. A graduate of Dell’Arte International’s year long training program, they have a desire to continue creating and teaching ensemble work. They co-run Gooseberry Gallery, a private artists studio in Blue Lake and co-founded Mystical A/V Club, a production company that has staged four shows and a performance festival in Humboldt over the last four years. Their five person, international ensemble, Magenta Mountain, is one of their deepest loves whom they continue to create work with.