On The DL

The Last Hurrah of the Clementines

by Holly Otterbein

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Fri., Nov. 21, 8 p.m., pay-what-you-wish benefit performance (includes dessert), with The Soldier & the Phoenix by the Shoddy Puppet Co., Studio 34, 4522 Baltimore Ave., 267-909-2633, puppetuprising.org

"In the last moment of the show, an egg leaves someone's hand and flies off," says curator Morgan Andrews. "It moves and thinks on its own. That's a puppet."

It's surely a stretch from Jim Henson, but so is the rest of Missoula Oblongata's production. The plot resembles a disjointed dream: The Clementines, a married couple, live together in a tent. Mr. Clementine spends his days throwing eggs into outer space, while Mrs. Clementine sharpens knives, studies math and regrets never playing professional sports. When a former athlete visits the couple, Mrs. Clementine is forced to confront her unrealized goals.

As if that wasn't bemusing enough, the setting also changes spontaneously and different actors play the same character. When you get down to it, though, the avant-garde puppet show is less obtuse than it sounds.

"It's about Mr. and Mrs. Clementine, and their mutual interest in fortune cookies, math and science," says Andrews. "Basically, it's a love story."