Maine’s ‘Edgy’ Puppet Slam This Weekend

Even though this show looks like it features a 'King Friday' puppet similar to the one we all know and love from Mr. Roger's Neighborhood, this one's probably not for the kids.

It's King Friday’s Dungeon Puppet Slam tonight and tomorrow night at 7:30 at Mayo Street Arts in Portland.  The shows are put on by local puppeteers associated with the Puppet Slam Network, a nationwide organization created by Heather Henson.

That last name is puppet royalty. Heather is the daughter of (you guessed it) the internationally famous creator of the Muppets, Jim Henson.

Here's what to expect this weekend according to the Mayo Street Arts Facebook page,

"A wild variety show/cabaret of short puppet acts! Join us for two nights jam packed with astounding, hilarious, edgy and amazing puppetry. Performers include Peaks Island Puppets, Fat Lion Productions, Kat Saunier, Reuben J. Little, Maggie Muth, Inventing Trees, Figures of Speech Theatre, and more.

King Friday, post-monarch, deposed and living in squalor beneath an old vaudeville house hath requestedeth new puppet works and puppet works-in-progress for an impromptu, after-hours, puppet-roadhouse show. Pieces shall be edgy, bawdy, humorous, elegant, or bizarre. Object theater, canastoria, and ventriloquism are likely candidates too. Come romp through the netherrealms of puppet and object theater with King Friday."

This looks like the kind of weirdo fun we grew up with watching the Muppets! Glad to see a thriving puppetry community here in Southern Maine!

General admission tickets are $12 and you can get 'em right here.