In The Original Lou and Walter Story, performed at The Kitchen in 1978, Jill Kroesen sets up a complicated and dream-like world that examines social and economic relations between men in a fantastic western town. Kroesen established the plot of this complicated narrative by first presenting her audience with written program notes and then acting as a storyteller, narrating in an earnest and child-like fashion as dancers slowly advance the plot through their actions. With set design by Jared Bark, Kroesen’s 1978, the multi-faceted performance explores themes similar to her 1977 piece Stanley Oil and His Mother—an economic analysis of the entire history of the West—also performed at The Kitchen.