Dead Letter Office Pics

Here are some pics of the Dead Letter Office. I love the stacks and stacks of letters and all of the odd things collected. I wish it was my job to go through these things and figure out where they belong. But alas, my job is to make a piece of theater inspired by these things. I definitely want to find intriguing ways to read letters on stage...

Who are the Agents, You Ask?

The Secret Agents have been around the block, entertaining audiences of 5 people and audiences of 5000 people, from Forcalquier to Kalamazoo, in roles as dancers, acrobats, and puppeteers, as solo artists and in touring companies.

What did those silly agents learn from all this?

Most of all, instead of performing at their audience, Bonnie and Tim learned how to bring an audience along with them into daring and surreal realms. The Agents are courageous yet calm on stage and truly enjoy performing in a way that is palpable and inviting to the audience. The Agents are not air brushed or leotarded; they “wow” you without becoming steely circus performers, and they provoke instrospection without batting you over the head with obscure themes.

Audiences relate to Bonnie and Tim as people and fellow travelers who will immerse you into simply constructed worlds that play with and distort the grand themes of time, scale, formality and reality. Short segments of clowning, video, dance, puppetry, and theatre flow into one another and spin together touching moments with humorous ones.

There is something for everyone at a Secret Agents show.




Tim Gallagher formally studied ballet and modern dance while growing up in New England, honed his improv skills with Travelling Treasure Trunk at Tufts University where he earned a BA in English and received a BFA in photography from The Museum School. He danced for six years with the acrobatic Snappy Dance Theater, while choreographing and teaching throughout New England. Tim also worked as a cinematographer for the independent movie production company Daemonswine and loves to fly in his dreams.









Bonnie Duncan grew up in the South where she danced and swam competitively. She studied education and theatre in college and grad school where she developed a knack for costuming on the cheap and acting in original theatre pieces. She danced for eight years with Snappy Dance Theater, where she became addicted to being thrown around by good-looking men. Bonnie creates and performs solo puppet shows for adults in her living room and in fancy theaters. She also does some costume design on the side. And finally, she loves cupcakes.

Why the Post Office?

The creative impetus for this show roots in both the mystique and day to day workings of the Dead Letter Office, a branch of the US Postal service charged with handling undeliverable mail. For us the Dead Letter Office brings communication down from a high-tech, instant “now, now, now” process to a more tangible, visceral level. We use our bodies, puppetry and video media to playfully explore communication and its mishaps.

Poste Restante: The Post Office Never Looked So Sexy

What will The Secret Agents do with an anonymous package, cardboard box bikinis, a few handwritten letters, a bicycle with wings, and one mysterious vinyl record? Could it possibly involve inanimate object domination, acrobatic knots, full-throttle origami and a cocoa pop?

Return to Sender

This is the first section of the show we created. Emperor Norton's Stationary Marching Band invited us to HONK! and here's what we did.