2023 UConn Fall Puppet Slam

The UConn Fall Puppet Slam will feature new and experimental short works by professional puppeteers and performers from around the Northeast, including Christine Dempsey and New York City’s Emmanuel Elpenord, as well as new works by UConn Puppet Arts students, and music by UConn student punk-reggae band Solgyres. 

New England-based fabricator and puppeteer Christine Dempsey will perform Hunger, a humorous tale of poor decisions made when drinking on an empty stomach; and What We Have Left, a solo performance exploring grief and loss through the objects loved ones have left behind. Coney Island-based puppeteer Emmanuel Elpenord will perform The Choose-Your-Own-Adventures of Turtle Boy, in which shy yet rowdy Turtle Boy leads the audience through an action movie of their own making–Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles meets John Wick. The UConn Fall Puppet Slam will also feature new works by graduate and undergraduate students from the UConn Puppet Arts Program, and, for the first time, a house band: Solgyres. Funding for the UConn Fall Puppet Slam is made possible in part by the Puppet Slam Network. These performances are recommended for mature audiences.

The UConn Fall Puppet Slam is free and open to the public; donations are greatly appreciated. Seating is limited and is on a first-come, first-served basis. Doors open at 7:00 p.m. The event will take place in UConn’s Harriet S. Jorgensen Theatre, located at 2132 Hillside Road, Storrs, Conn. 06269, in the lower level (use rear entrance). For directions to the Harriet S. Jorgensen Theatre, visit crt.uconn.edu. For more information about these performances or if you require accommodation to attend this event, please contact Ballard Institute staff at 860-486-8580 or bimp@uconn.edu.