ANIMO: UK/Minneapolis

On the occasion of its fifth Walker-commissioned production, Britain’s Improbable Theatre abandons the relative safety of such lavish puppetry spectacles as Shockheaded Peter and The Hanging Man (performed here in 2000 and 2003, respectively) and instead harks back to its roots in scrappy, improvisational object theater. Animo, therefore, is not so much a play as it is a series of spontaneous performances. With no script—not even predetermined characters—Improbable will invent its show anew, every night; found objects collected from nooks and crannies around the Twin Cities will serve as puppets. Local performers are pitching in, too: The Animo cast includes Minneapolis’ master puppeteer Michael Sommers, Jeune Lune co-founder Barbra Berlovitz, Bedlam Theater’s Julian McFaul, burgeoning puppeteer Lindsay McCaw, and percussionist extraordinaire Aaron Barnell. 612-375-7600; www.walkerart.org