About 80 people showed up for the second performance of Spectrum Theatre Company’s “pupPet Sounds-A Celebratory 4/20 Puppet Show” on Tuesday night.
“I wouldn’t mind seeing it become a tradition, a 4/20 tradition,” said Communication sophomore Ben Gojer, creator of the show. “It’s a good time to get people together.”
Held in McCormick Auditorium, the celebration featured a range of puppets constructed from recycled materials. The cast included Ms. Dubbet, a large female puppet dressed in a garbage bag, Ms. Bubbet, a Tim Burton-esque skeletal figure with fiery red hair, and a peanut-shaped child of Ms. Dubbet being hugged by an actor.
Spectrum Theatre Company, a board of theatre artists, holds about four events per year, said Gojer, artistic director for Spectrum. This is the first time they’ve done a puppet show.
The show’s title refers to The Beach Boys’ album “Pet Sounds” and featured a bit of the band’s music. A few notes of “Wouldn’t It Be Nice” played throughout the show until the audience got to hear the song in its entirety at the end and a bit of “Caroline, No” was played.
The script also included profanity, Star Wars references and a few mentions of drugs.
“I just wanted to have a good time,” Bienen sophomore Zach Robinson said. “I’m a huge fan of puppets.”
The plot focused on Ms. Bubbet teaching Ms. Dubbet to become a lady in time for a blind date with a red-faced, devil-looking Congressman who comes for a turkey dinner.
However, all characters soon recognize they each have their own perverted, weird habits, such as watching Jerry Springer naked while eating MoonPies.
“I really liked when the puppet threw up,” Robinson said, referring to when the peanut-shaped character vomited on the table during dinner.
Each puppet took about 25 hours to make and materials were collected from dumpsters, Gojer said. A hubcap was used as a necklace for Ms. Dubbet and tree branches were utilized.
Weinberg junior Makoa Kawabata said he operated Ms. Bubbet and voiced DD Dairy Dame, the porn star/turkey
“A lot of it was commemorating 4/20, treating it like a holiday, ” he said.
After the performance was over, the audience participated in Chatroulette. Several people hung up when they saw the auditorium of people, but the audience was mooned by one person, introduced to a Minnie Mouse picture by another and asked to get naked by a third. Many also mentioned 4/20.
“That was the best part,” Robinson said. “That’s what Chatroulette’s supposed to be. I wish we had more of that.”[email protected]