The last time we saw one of Chris Danowski’s Theater in My Basement productions, we left scratching our heads but feeling strangely satisfied. That’s because his works tend to be experimental mishmashes of spoken word and visual art, designed to inspire thought about multicultural themes. They also often make you feel cooler after seeing them.

From Thursday, October 29, through Saturday, October 31, Danowski brings together like-minded artists in the annual ¡Teatro Caliente!, featuring local performers serving up some spicy existential work.

Danowski says he hopes the seventh annual festival will give viewers a sense of community, especially considering Spanish and Native languages are often incorporated into the works. “The idea was to get a whole bunch of people in one room doing incredibly creative stuff,” Danowski says. “It still seems like there are a lot of different layers to the city, and a lot of them are unknown to each other. I’d like an artistic conversation.”