RATIONS, the Theatre and Dance Department’s spring production, is doing things differently than a normal Macalester Mainstage show. RATIONS is a new, devised performance that explores all things food: from table-settings, family memories and food preparation, to global concerns about food production, labor conditions, eating disorders, food waste and hunger. The story is told through poetry, dance, song, assembly-lines and bread baking. And it’s taking place both inside and outside the Theater Building.

RATIONS begins with five different small-cast outdoor performances, playing continuously for 50 minutes ahead of each indoor Mainstage performance. Audiences may go in any order through five different outdoor shows, each six minutes long. The site specific performances will begin at 6:30 p.m. and move to the Mainstage at 7:20 on April 12, 13, 18, and 19, and begin at 1 p.m. and move to the Mainstage at 1:50 on April 14.

Outdoor Show Locations:

• The Bon Appetit Performance Ensemble will be performing on Bateman Plaza. Rain location is the second floor of the Campus Center.

• Vegetable Love will be performing on the plaza outside DeWitt Wallace Library. Rain location is the basement of Old Main.

• Minnesota Prairie Meet Hebei Desert will be performing at the prairie site behind Olin Rice. Rain location is Smail Gallery, first floor of Olin Rice.

• The Rising will be performing at the Noguchi Sculpture area. Rain location is the Dance Studio in the lower level of the Theatre and Dance building.

• Pillars will be performing in the space between the Theatre and Dance and the Music building. Rain Location is the Black Box in the lower level of the Theatre and Dance building.

All RATIONS performances are free. For ticket reservations, call 651-696-6359. For a map of performance locations, go to the Theatre and Dance website, or pick one up from the Theater Building lobby or the Info Desk.