Austinist Interview: <strong>Small Appliance Puppet Theatre</strong> - Austinist: Austin News, Food, Arts & Events

FronteraFest, Austin’s annual fringe performance festival, breeds all kinds of odd experimentation, leaps of theatrical faith, and – this past year – a political satire with kitchen appliances as puppets.

Puppet Government, written by Steve Barney and directed Chris Humphrey, has grown beyond its Frontera beginnings, and is now re-tooled, re-worked, and heading for the New York International Fringe Festival. Before they set sail for the Apple, the company is holding a fundraiser at the Blue Theater – at which they’ll present the latest version of their ridiculous, scathing, no-holds-barred, all-singing, all-dancing brand of political puppet theatre.

We exchanged a few emails with Chris and Steve to find out more about the show, their plans, and the reason Donald Rumsfeld is played by a fruit juicer.

Ok, let's start with the basics. What's the background? How'd you decide to make a show with appliances as puppets?

Chris Humphrey: After Steve got back from doing his one-man show Wade at FringeNYC last year, I innocently asked him, "Well, Steve, what's next?" And he said, "Small appliance puppet theater?" Without a moment's hesitation, I said, "I'm in!" A week or so later, we invited some people and their small appliances over for an evening of dialog, improv, and general fooling around. By the end of the evening, it became clear that it would be a political satire. Who knew that appliances had so much to say?

You were picked as Best of the Fest at FronteraFest, right? How was your Frontera experience overall?

CH: When I think back to Frontera, I realize that yes, we had a really funny show, but that it needed to grow and mature some. It was a great starting place, and I was thrilled with its success, but I definitely felt we weren't finished with it yet.

Have you made any changes since the original FronteraFest performance? What's new?

CH: Holy Moly! We've got nine songs now, whereas we had only two before. Huge dance numbers (yes, appliances can dance). The show has been lengthened from 22 minutes to an hour and it kills us how much we had to cut to keep it to that one hour length. The current administration just keeps creating new material -- stating that they'll follow the Geneva Convention after all, replacing old cronies with new cronies, saying stupid things ("I'm the decider" comes instantly to mind). We can't keep up with them! And then, of course, there's the dark edge that we've added, which gives the show a bit of a bite.

What prompted you to take the show further -- why take it to New York?

CH: Steve and I had both submitted pieces to Fringe New York in 2005. Steve made it in, I didn't. I think we both felt that Puppet Government was definitely a project we believed in -- something that needed to mature, that needed to be seen by more people. Having been to FringeNYC once already, Steve knew the ropes, and together we put together an application that they couldn't refuse. We told them that our mission was to be the political satire of the festival.

How's the chatter been up in NYC? Are people excited about the production? What's the general reaction been to Austin as a theatre center?

CH: We've been getting excellent media coverage in NYC. In fact, they're touting Puppet Government as one of the "best bets" for New York ticket buyers, which totally thrills us! And yes, Austin is definitely on the map, theatrically speaking. When the William Morris Agency asked us to send them a script, they mentioned that they've got their eye on Austin, as a number of exciting things are coming from here.

Steve, you've worked in NYC before, right? How does Austin compare with the scene in NYC?

Steve Barney: There's a difference in scale between FronteraFest (a handful of theaters, mostly short plays) and FringeNYC (21 theaters, 200+ shows, some over 2 hours long). And in NYC you certainly also get more out-of-town companies, including from Europe and other environs. Yet, even in "big-league" NYC, the quality of shows varies widely. Also the size and quality of venues: the tiny theater I was assigned to had maybe 40 seats and was directly below another theater; sometimes the sounds from another show would bleed through (especially the first night, when I heard a musical with loud dance numbers). Another Austin show, Hit, was in the space above me at least once. I must say that venue sure made me appreciate what a great space Hyde Park Theater is.

Do you have any plans for the production outside of/after the festival?

CH: We'll take the show to Dallas in early September for a short run there -- in fact, Steve is thinking of adding a "Rumsfeld Rap" for the Dallas performance since (1) the actor who's playing him (Jeff Swearingen) is an accomplished rapper, and (2) Rumsfeld has said so many amazingly incoherent things that they ought to be available for everyone to enjoy. Personally, I'd like a nice long nap after the Dallas show; on the other hand, I think Austin deserves to see the show in an extended run here. And, of course, by the time we get back, there's no telling how much new material the Bush administration will have given us! It never ends!

Austinist note: check out how the crew made their kitchen puppets (and dissected a Mr. Potato Head doll in the process) at their blog.

Puppet Government
In Austin: Sunday, August 13th at 5pm and 7:30pm at the Blue Theater
Email Chris for info and tickets.

In NYC: August 20th, 21st, 23rd, 24th, 25th, 26th and 27th at The Players Loft
Go here for times and tickets.

Photo (c) Small Appliance Puppet Theatre