Strange Things Done

Strange Things Done in the Midnight Sun

Weird. Wild. Wonderful.
Welcome to Talkeetna.

A live, rotating storytelling show built from the true — and true-ish — stories of one small Alaska town. Drawn at random from a bucket of numbered moose droppings. Never quite the same show twice.

Tell us your story What is this?
ComingSummer2028
A photocopied engraving of a bull moose An engraved caution sign
Running time 45–50 minutes
Hometown premiere Talkeetna, this fall
Visitors' season Summer 2028
What is this?

What happens when you turn Talkeetna's tall tales, true stories, colorful characters, and downright strange behavior into a live show?

Talkeetna is a layover town. The buses stop for a couple of hours and everyone wonders what there is to do. This is what there is to do.

Five or six actors, a bucket of numbered moose droppings, and about forty-five minutes of the strangest true things that have happened in one small Alaska town — the festivals, the feuds, the bush pilots, the cat who was mayor, the cardboard boats, the bachelors on the auction block, and whatever the audience draws next.

Some stories happen every night. The rest are up to the bucket.

True stories. Mostly.

How the droppings work
Step one

Draw a dropping

Every story in tonight's show is numbered and shellacked to a high shine. You reach into the bucket and pull one out.

Step two

We tell that one

The company performs whatever you pulled — a festival gone sideways, a disaster, a founding, a local legend — then it's back to the bucket.

Step three

Until the sun won't set

A few anchor stories happen every night. Everything else is up to the room. No two audiences get the same Talkeetna.

Tonight's possibilities

A cabinet of Talkeetna specimens, each one a story that might come up. The exhibit rotates. So does the show.

Engraving of a seated tabby cat
Specimen N° 01
Stubbs
Honorary mayor, twenty years
Engraving of a bush plane
Specimen N° 02
The Bush Plane
Often the only road out
Engraving of a grizzly bear
Specimen N° 03
Ursus
An uninvited regular
Engraving of a slice of pizza
Specimen N° 04
The Pizza
A cautionary tale
Engraving of a pair of snowshoes
Specimen N° 05
Snowshoes
Standard winter issue
Engraving of a vintage snowmachine
Specimen N° 06
The Machine
How the mail got through
Photocopied image of a moose
Specimen N° 07
The Moose
Source of all droppings
The Oosik
The Bachelor Ball
The Regatta
The Denali Dames
Specimen N° 08
& Yours?
Still being collected
Talkeetna, we want your stories

The show is built out of real Talkeetna stories, collected from the people who were there. If you've got one — a festival that went sideways, a season that broke you, a bush-pilot story, a bar bet, a founding, a disaster, a local legend, or something nobody has ever quite believed — tell us.

$100 Selected storytellers receive a $100 honorarium, sign a simple release, and choose whether to be credited by name or kept anonymous.
Were you there, or did you hear it?
If we use it, how should we credit you?

Submitting shares your story with the Denali Arts Council for possible use on stage. Nothing is published here. We'll reach out before anything of yours is performed.

Got it. Thank you.

Your story is in the bucket. Someone from the Denali Arts Council will be in touch — and if it ends up on stage, we'll sort out the honorarium and the release with you first.

Why this exists

Strange Things Done is a fundraiser for the Denali Arts Council — the nonprofit that keeps a real theater running inside a historic airplane hangar just off Main Street, in a town of about a thousand people.

Every ticket goes back to the hangar.

All proceeds benefit the Denali Arts Council.

Engraving of a bush plane
Venue & the nitty gritty

Where

The Sheldon Community Arts Hangar — 22249 S D Street, one block off Main Street in downtown Talkeetna. A two-story historic airplane hangar seating up to 110, including 48 in the balcony, with good sightlines throughout.

The room

Communal and bar-style, with concessions: snacks, beer, wine, and non-alcoholic drinks. Accessible seating and bathrooms on the main floor; heated and air-conditioned.

Run time

45 to 50 minutes — it fits neatly into a bus layover.

Recommended age

12 and up. Appropriate for a wide range of audiences, with occasional light innuendo and adult themes.

When

A hometown premiere this fall, then a full visitors' season beginning summer 2028.

Tickets

Dates and tickets announced closer to opening.

Bring your guests.
We'll bring the strange.

Tour operators: tell us what you need