A new adult-oriented puppet comedy will string along New York audiences during a limited run this spring. Produced by Henson Alternative, an offshoot famed muppet makers The Jim Henson Company, Stuffed and Unstrung will play a 10-week engagement at off-Broadway's Union Square Theater beginning March 17, with opening night scheduled for April 1. Patrick Bristow directs.
Created by and featuring Bristow and co-creator Brian Henson, chairman of the Jim Henson Company, Stuffed and Unstrung stars six puppeteers who improvise a series of songs and sketches based on interactions with the audience. The puppet hijinks are filmed and projected on screens at either side of the stage, while the puppeteers perform onstage in full view of the audience. The show is a revamping of the group's acclaimed Puppet Up! Uncensored, which had a 2006 stint at the HBO Comedy and Edinburgh Fringe festivals, as well as a featured spot in the 2007 Comedy Festival in Las Vegas, Nevada. The reworked production features new content, technical and musical elements.
Despite the puppeteers' plush co-stars, Stuffed and Unstrung is geared specifically for adult audiences.
WestBeth Entertainment will produce the show in conjuction with Henson Alternative.