He-Man is the Devil: A Satanic Panic Tale - 2024 Summer Tour!
Photo by Kari Elizabeth Godfrey
Growing up a nerd in the 1980s religious-right wasn’t easy
The true story of a childhood enveloped in crushing right-wing Christian ideology. Join Kyle B. Dekker as he tells the story of his experiences both odd and traumatic that were essential in creating his world view, his hobbies, and his relationship with his family. Tales of demon possession, religious fanaticism, and learning to be yourself.
Credits
Written and performed by: Kyle B. Dekker
Directed By: Denzel Belin
Skeletor Voice: Sif Magnolia Oberon
Graphic Design: Jacob Gulliver
Photography: Kari Elizabeth Godfrey and Scott Pakudaitis
Props: Kyle B. Dekker, Amy Dekker
Sound Design: Kyle B. Dekker and Denzel Belin
Special Thanks: Garrett Larson, Malcolm Dekker, and the Amazing Fringe Techs, Staff, and Volunteers for making all of this happen!
Media Reviews
A Recovering Evangelical Finds Salvation In Unexpected Places - 5 Stars - Single White Fringe Geek
“I have certainly been aware of many of the things in Dekkers play, but for the first time I didn’t just hear them, I felt them.” -The Stages of MN
Further Reading and Videos
Satanic Panic: The Creation of a Contemporary Legend - Jeffrey S. Victor The conclusions and sociology of this book aren’t great but the research and interviews are excellent.
Empty the Pews: Stories of Leaving the Church - Edited by Chrissy Stroop and Lauren O'Neal These stories are what inspired me to put my own into this show. The reads aren’t always easy, but they are interesting and informative.
The infamous Ed Bradley 60 Minutes D&D piece from 1985. This is really bad journalism from an otherwise good journalist. He doesn’t push back on any of the cops or parents making claims of the connections and the “researcher” citing a connection was proven to used flawed and biased data collection to do so. The quality is poor, but a very interesting watch.
An example of one of the Evangelical Snake Oil Salesman (TM) and their rants against He-Man and other media. This is real and they made good, real money peddling this stuff to sell books and appearance fees.
Cast and Crew Bios
Kyle B. Dekker (Himself)
Kyle B. Dekker (he/him) is a writer, performer, and father from St. Paul, MN. He has been writing. producing, and directing shows for over 10 years, and is a long time street performer at the Minnesota Renaissance Festival. One reviewer called one of his shows "High Concept - Low Brow" which he agrees with entirely. Previous shows include WAITING FOR GYGAX (2017), REMY RAYGUN OF THE SPACE BRIGADE (2018). Kyle is thrilled to take this show on the road and bring it to more audiences!
Denzel Belin (Director)
Denzel Belin is a Minneapolis-based writer, director, actor, producer, and improviser. Belin is a longstanding cast member and writer at The Brave New Workshop and a staff writer for AWF magazine. He serves as the Artistic Director for Threshold Theater, whose mission is to "produce fresh LGBTQ works." He currently writes and performs for “Queer Window,” an all-queer sketch show based in New York City. Denzel has appeared on TPT Almanac and created work for the Twin Cities Gay Men’s Chorus and Minneapolis Regional Chamber of Commerce. He presented a longform collection of solo sketches and storytelling, “With Love, From Washington” for the Blackness Is… Festival in Minneapolis. With Threshold Theater, he is currently leading a play reading series that will provide playwrights the opportunity to workshop their play with a director and team of actors that concludes with a staged reading that is open to the public. You can learn more at https://www.thresholdtheatermpls.com. Learn more about Denzel at https://www.denzelbelin.com.
Sif Magnolia Oberon (Skeletor)
Sif Magnolia Oberon (they/them) is a trans & non-binary actor, musician, and clown. They began cultivating theatrical skills on the family farm, while singing and performing for audiences of dairy cows. It is said these performances were quite moo-ving. You can find them performing around town doing everything from opera to improv; and occasionally climbing aerial silks like a pirate. For more information: www.lokiembrysgraham.com