Finding the human form boring, insufficiently stylized and lacking in felt? Check out Puppet Uprising's Cooler Cabaret this weekend. The six performances are family-friendly but not, you know, First Family-friendly. Tom Sarver, from Pittsburgh, sends his puppets, recent college grads (your correspondent sees her future, and sheds a solitary tear), to a cereal factory where the dealings are shady and the robot doughnuts menacing. Beth Pulcinella uses tabletop puppetry in "From My Porch" to explore race and change in her West Philly neighborhood north of Lancaster Avenue. In song, as all good things are. Performing with masks, Shoddy Puppet Company envisions the daily life of Frankenstein's monster in modern times. "How do people treat Frankenstein? What happens when Frankenstein rides a train, and plays solitaire?" says Morgan FitzPatrick Andrews, head of the company and curator of Puppet Uprising. Well, I'm guessing no one asks Frankenstein if he's interested in a friendly game of Go Fish. Lessons in alienation, situationist philosophy and other people's freaky dreams await our poor mass of flesh. On to happier matters: shopping! Before and after the show, satisfy your ravenous consumer impulses through the Cheap Art Bazaar. Old puppets, hand-painted postcards, re-bound books and various items you can wear or otherwise adorn yourself with (vintage bike helmets, possibly) will be on way-cheap sale. Plus, Lucy and Claudio, Philly's accordion and drums zydeco duo, will be there. Yep, gonna zydeco till the rooster crows.
Puppet Uprising's Cooler Cabaret and Cheap Art Bazaar, Fri.-Sat., Aug. 11-12, 7:30 p.m. bazaar, 8 p.m. cabaret, $5-$10, The Cinema, 3925 Walnut St., 215-730-0982, www.puppetuprising.org.
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