Spirit in the House festival puts spirituality at center stage

Dean J. Seal, producing artistic director for Spirit in the House, is a firmly established presence in Twin Cities arts. His credits include having produced the Minnesota Fringe Festival and being managing director at the Bryant-Lake Bowl Theater. His writing and performing have been a hit at venues throughout the Twin Cities, with Mr. Elk & Mr. Seal being a strong standout. With partner Rob Elk, he formed a duo that spared no sacred cows and arched more a few eyebrows when it came to social commentary. They released the CDs Oral Hygiene and Downwind From Your Stinkin’ Heart and made a HBO pilot, The Mr. Elk & Mr. Seal Show. These days, Seal continues to make social commentary, but his work focuses on the heart and soul more than anything else.

You’re achieved a hard-earned status as a significant presence on the local arts scene. How’s that feel?
Some years have been better than others. I worked really hard at the Fringe and at the Bryant-Lake Bowl—then, I went to seminary for three years. [Spirit in the House] is a combination of things I really care about. There’s a lot more people who care about [spirituality] than I thought. When I started talking to artists about doing spiritual work they said it would be great to do something like that. So, it feels really good to be in the company of other people who [have spirituality] in mind.

You say it’s not just entertainment, that it’s entertainment with meaning.
I decided on [artists with material] that has not necessarily religious [content], but some sort of spiritual or ethical content. There’s an atheist, several agnostics, and people who are doing their own spirituality. There are shows that are trying to do something deep—especially Dr. King’s Dream, which Mixed Blood Theatre is doing at the festival. Dr. King is the center of my spiritual awakening. I kept going back to him and saying, “This guy is amazing.” Letter From a Birmingham Jail still blows me away.

You’ve got a wide range of art forms at the festival.
That’s what the artists brought to me, and I think that’s a great way to go. It’s not just a theater festival, it’s a performance festival.

You’ve been a pretty irreverent guy for someone who’s now running around talking about spirituality.
A lot of people have a different approach, which is more about personal purity and stuff like that, and they lead a quiet life. That’s fine for [them]. We’ve got some shows that are about social action, like [Ochen K.’s] I Voted For Gummi Bears. It’s about felony voting laws.

You gonna perform?
Actually, I’ve got a movie, Dropped On My Head!. It’s a film of a live show I did ten years ago at the Bryant-Lake Bowl. Ben McGovern directed and produced it. [Dropped On My Head! is screening on Saturday 5/24 at 3:00 p.m., Sunday 5/25 at 3:00 p.m., Tuesday 5/27 at 7:30 p.m., Thursday 5/29 at 5:30 p.m., Friday 5/30 at 7:00 p.m., Saturday 5/31 at 1:00 p.m., and Sunday 6/1 at 7:00 p.m.]

Anything in general you want folks to know about the festival?
It’s an exercise in interfaith dialogue. How do you talk to people you disagree with, and do it respectfully? The best way is to start by listening. You can come to the festival and listen to a show and learn a lot about somebody’s faith tradition. It’ll give you insight into how they see themselves. The next step is to find out how they see you. At that point, dialogue can happen. That’s what the whole thing is about.