Rating (out of four stars): ★★★
It can be difficult to regularly review All Puppet Players’ performances, simply because they trend along the same lines: an Avenue Q-style adult puppet comedy take on a popular film or book (or other form of media). In every show, the stage is sparsely populated with props made on a budget, and the players dress in all black so they are fully covered. Puppets are regularly reused between shows.
For me, the biggest variation has been how funny the shows are, given my varied experiences with “Fifty Shades of Felt” and “The Exorcist Has No Legs.” I went into “The Notebook Has No Legs” wary of my experience with the latter and was glad to come out feeling more like I did after the former.
In short: “The Notebook Has No Legs” was funny and worth seeing. It seemed as though director and producer Shaun Michael McNamara had no difficulty finding a generous amount of comedy content to play with in “The Notebook.”
For readers who have been living under a rock or, like me, are just too cool to watch something so mainstream, “The Notebook” is originally a 1996 Nicholas Sparks novel, which was adapted into a film in 2004. In the story, which is told by an old man reading to an elderly woman in a nursing home, two young people fall in love and face some trials and tribulations along the way. (I didn’t ever actually watch the movie, so thanks for the summary, Wikipedia.)
McNamara is a master at finding the inconsistencies in movies, and he played with that throughout the script, which was overall witty, clever, and intelligently written. While in some areas the humor lulled — an inconsistency that at times could be described as jarring — for the most part, the comedy was smart and on point.
As is typical of an All Puppet Players show, some of the funniest parts came from improvisation and McNamara’s characters breaking the fourth wall to single out the audience — or completely losing their composure at another character’s smoothly but ridiculously improvised faux pas. (The main character leaning against a cow and splitting it in half was apparently not intentional.)
A particular element that really shined in this production was the company’s creative use of props and setting on a low budget. The first scene change used music and lights to strongly evoke a carnival setting with only a few, primarily cardboard props onstage. The troupe also uses the fact that many of the props are held up by players to its advantage, personifying some and giving explicit jokes of their own to others.
I find myself left with only a few small critiques. A litany of movie references left some of the less-cultured (or more-hipster) in the audience a little dumbfounded. And I feel it’s only best to warn those considering attending the show that there are a couple jokes about suicide that can be triggering.
Those small concerns were fairly easy, at least in my case, to overcome and allow myself to really enjoy the rest of the show. If there’s one way I’d characterize an All Puppet Players show, I’d go with “fun.” The puppeteers aren’t afraid to have fun onstage or with the audience. And while gaps do exist in the humor of the show always landing, the energy and playfulness of the troupe doesn’t miss a beat.
Contact the columnist at mbilker@asu.edu
