What’s He Building?
Live Theatrical Halloween Show
Lucky Me
Cole Valley is one of the most popular Halloween destinations in San Francisco. Known for it’s creative decorations, house parties and festive attractions, it hosts thousands of tricks and treats on the streets each October 31st.
But Halloween 2020 was different.
Confined to our homes for several months during lock down, we set out to design a safe and entertaining Halloween experience that fit this cultural moment. With a voyeuristic poem as the inspiration, a pandemic as the backdrop and our garage as the performance space, we spent six months chipping away at the thing.
Created by an out-of-work father and his out-of-school daughter, “What’s He Building” was a socially-distant emotionally-entangled art project performed on All Hallows Eve 2020. It’s a creepy ghost story about the love that holds humans together and the assumptions that push us apart.
What’s He Building?
This live theatrical event brought to life the eccentric character described by a nosy neighbor in the Tom Waits song “What’s He Building” from his 1999 album Mule Variations.
This short play combined live and prerecorded performances to explore the motives and mindset of the Boo Radley that lives across the street from all of us.
“What’s He Building” is the sweet and salty tale of one man’s obsession to build a contraption that reconnects him to the past, for just a few minutes each year on Halloween night.
Six seated audience members at a time were invited to wade into a local whisper campaign and wonder how well they know their own neighbors! We asked a lot of questions but answered only one: What’s he building in there?
Twenty Sold Out Shows October 30 & 31
100% of each ticket sales was donated to the San Francisco-Marin Food Bank where each dollar buys two meals for hungry human beings
What they said:
“Citizens of the Valley: Greg Vena and family have mounted a chilling Halloween show for your seasonal pleasure! We just saw it and loved it; fly on over before it closes tomorrow night!” - Renata Miller, Neighbor
"The show was a gift to the neighborhood and the city in a time when everyone is feeling a need for more connection. Brief, rich, and stunningly well-designed, the project brought together a story of being haunted, a personal space, and a technical know-how that really floored me." - Michael Epstein, Walking Cinema
“Ever since we created a Boogey Man in my basement, I am no longer scared of the Boogey Man or my basement.” - Scarlett Vena, Daughter & Co-Creator
Credits: Music by Tom Waits and Kathleen Brennan / Kinetic Typography by Stephen Eligot
Contributors:
Greg Vena - Creator
Scarlett Vena - Performer, Art Direction & Special Effects
Geo Epsilanty - Performer
Michael Garcia - Esoteric Logistician & Stage Manager
Sam Dubois - Fabrication & Technical Support
Ty DeMartino - Writer, Voice Artist
Quinlan Posner - Writer, Voice Artist
Zan Media - Audio Video Recording
Manny Alvarado - Post-Production Visual Effects
Based on Music by Tom Waits and Kathleen Brennan and Neil Young