400 years of puppetry survival

This dark comedy highlights all the glory of traditional, antiauthoritarian, counter-cultural puppet theater. Puppet Crimes, an original hand puppet show created by Jana Zeller, is a raucously hilarious satire about what it takes for a common puppet to survive for 400 years in the face of war, tyranny and economic oppression. Traditional German hand puppet heroes Kasper and Gretel struggle to survive in an old shack on the margins of society. As the centuries pass through their little puppet booth, war is always raging and Kasper tries to avoid getting blamed, arrested and drafted, yet at every turn this petty puppet is made the scapegoat for larger crimes. In a grotesque world of gun-runners, outhouses, and a declining monarchy, Kasper (with the humor and wit of the common man) ducks out from under authority and manages to survive another 200 years. The third character in this spectacle is the villain Dietmar, corrupt emissary to the king who deals in weapons and bullies Kasper with his gun wielding authority. Each scene poses a grotesque circumstance with a comic twist that explores the tradition of Kasper’s character and its timeless relevance to today’s world.

Conceived and Performed by: Jana Zeller
Co-writer and Director: Eric Bass
Puppet Heads: Zak Grace
Puppet Costumes: Ines Zeller Bass
Composer: Anna Patton