“A Prairie Homeless Companion,” a satirical twist on the radio show “A Prairie Home Companion” that opens this weekend in St. Paul, integrates real stories of homelessness in greater Minnesota. Maren Ward, the artistic director at zAmya Theater, wants to bring awareness to housing insecurity outside the Twin Cities. A lot of shows produced through zAmya Theater are satire, including “Reality Roadshow: Who Wants to be a Homeless Millionaire?” and “There’s No Place Like Home”, which are satires of “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?” and “The Wizard of Oz.” “A Prairie Homeless Companion” itself takes place in a quaint, fictional town called Miserable Falls, Minn. “There is seriousness when it comes to talking about these issues, but humor really opens people up,” Ward said. “It enables us to be relaxed. We can really talk to each other if we’re also laughing and it’s fun for the performers.” The play is structured in two acts. The first act entails a radio show where the host makes jokes, talks about life in a small town and conducts interviews with residents. Act 1 teaches what housing insecurity can look like. The host acts as a character who does not understand the weight of what housing insecurity looks like in the small town. In the second act, residents of the town take over the show and tell their own stories of homelessness. The real stories were found and integrated into the play by conducting story circles in five northeastern Minnesota communities. Story circles are conversations conducted with people staying at homeless shelters where real-life experiences are shared. Story circles were administered at shelters in Grand Rapids, International Falls, Hibbing, Virginia and Leech Lake. Last fall, the show covered central Minnesota. “We tell them what we’re doing, and then we say, ‘What do you think people need to know, from your own experience, what housing insecurity looks like in this place?’” Ward said. The playwright, Joseph Evans, turned those stories into a narrative. The show premieres Friday at Victoria Theater in St. Paul. It stops in Grand Rapids, International Falls, Duluth, Virginia and ends its tour at Wild Rose Theater in Puposky, near Bemidji, on Oct 11. “Our hope is that it’s building more compassion and more tolerance in the communities for things like new housing,” Ward said. “There’s such a fear and such an othering of unhoused people. What’s not understood is that person is your neighbor’s brother, you know?” The show runs two hours, and tickets range from $0 to $40. Learn more about the show or get tickets at zamyatheater.org/prairie-homeless-companion Related Articles Theater | Last chance: At new 825 Arts, ‘Divas & Drag’ pairs professional opera singers with drag and burlesque artists to explore ‘big emotions of how the music makes you feel’ Theater | Review: Guthrie Theater’s ambitious ‘Lehman Trilogy’ ultimately misses the mark Theater | St. Paul playwright aims to honor 130th anniversary of the Great Hinckley Fire Theater | South African acrobatics troupe spins up an energetic show at Children’s Theatre Company Theater | St. Paul’s Victoria Theater, a former silent theater, reopens as 825 Arts center