Penny’s Puppet Hour

UPCOMING READING

Friday, December 13, 2024 at 8pm - FREE
RSVP HERE

This program is supported in part by a Community Arts Grant from the City of Burbank.

written by Chelsea Sutton

Synopsis

This is a new play in development. It’s development in the second year of the Rogue Lab New Play Incubator was interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic. In lieu of pubic readings, director Hannah Wolf and writer Chelsea Sutton experimented with exploring the story through instagram in photos, captions, video, stories, and Instagram Live. You can experience the play however you like - or scroll to the very bottom of the feed to start at the very beginning.

Explore the story on the instagram feed @pennyspuppethour

New Synopsis
When Jo starts going through the junk in her late-mother’s house, she finds tapes of an old forgotten children’s public-access television show: Penny’s Puppet Hour. When Jo discovers her mother was the lead puppet designer on the show, it unlocks a spiral as she tries to piece together the final threads of the on-screen story of the show’s final episode and the off-screen drama. Echoes of the show cast shadows across the patchwork of her life in ways she never perceived before, and picking through the past may cost her more than she thought. The audience is invited to the presentation of the recreated final episode of Penny’s Puppet Hour, where they play a part in the show’s hypothetical finale as the original star puppet throws the evening into chaos.  

Production History

• 2020 Instagram Exploration, Rogue Lab New Play Incubator, dir. Hannah Wolf

• 2024 Reading, Little Victory, Burbank Community Arts Grant Program, dir. Chelsea Sutton