Xhloe Rice and Natasha Roland Photo by Ben Arons

In And Then the Rodeo Burned Down, Xhloe and Natasha play a variety of characters who are all part of some sort of mystical Rodeo. They are, among other things, a downtrodden rodeo clown who wants to be a cowboy, the rodeo clown's shadow who wants something more for this clown; an abusive star of the rodeo who promises much and gives nothing; and a very innocent bull who just wants to leave the whole crazy thing. Then, to add another layer, roles get switched around and we learn that Xhloe and Natasha are players who still have to figure out how the rodeo burned down (it apparently has been destroyed–at least in theory) as well as overcome the different and interrelated obstacles that prevent them from completing their story.

If this sounds nonsensical, it does not really matter. Xhloe, Natasha and their co-director Tom Costello lean into the weirdness on many levels and create a highly diverting experience that even has some oddly touching moments. At the beginning, I felt irritated by the stylized shenanigans but I was soon drawn in by Xhloe and Natasha's antics. Whether they treat us to acrobatic dances set to recordings of "Working Nine to Five" and "Ring of Fire," mirror one another as a person and shadow, madly scramble for props, pull off a cheesy magic trick or two–all while they try to figure out the surreal situation they are in–it is darned engrossing.

Emmie Finckel's circus-inspired set, ringed by innumerable compartments, adds its own layer of organized insanity to the proceedings and Angelo Sagnelli's lighting and Carsen Joenk's work on the sound do much to keep the audience on its toes–whether we are blinking in and out of the reality onstage or hearing the sounds of a rather threatening rodeo.

Christopher E. Ford helps give Xhloe and Natasha the unmistakable bedraggled look of two people who have been enduring this rodeo for way too long, while the two of them frantically scramble into jackets that define their momentary characters and turn hats into props for some fun juggling.

I confess that by the end of the show, I was still not quite sure of what I had seen. Nevertheless, And Then the Rodeo Burned Down , is one fascinating maverick of an entertainment.