Puppet slam comes to Pine Plains

On Saturday, April 26, the Stissing Center in Pine Plains will open its doors to a puppetry cabaret of the surreal, the sublime, and the slightly scandalous.

The Hudson Valley Puppet Slam — strictly for those 21 and over — returns after a sold-out debut in Newburgh with what Brad Shur, founder and lead artist of Paper Heart Puppets based in Poughkeepsie calls, “one of my favorite programs I’ve ever been a part of.”

Shur, a veteran puppeteer with credits ranging from Dolly Parton’s Dollywood to “American Idol,” has curated this evening of miniature drama. “We’ve been trying to have a slam in the Hudson Valley for years,” he said, “and then suddenly it all came together.” A slam, in this case, is less “slam poetry” and more “slamming together nine wildly different puppet acts,” from the hilarious to the haunting. Think of it as a tasting menu of short-form puppetry for grownups: intimate, at times intense, and perhaps liberating.

The lineup includes an Emmy-nominated Disney alum — Chris Palmieri — a handful of local stars — Michelle Finston, Cabot Parsons — and even Shur himself. “We’ve got everything,” said Shur, “from funny to profound to ridiculous … pieces with depth, pieces with abstraction, pieces with adult themes and pieces that are just plain weird.”

If your last puppet encounter involved a trash can-dwelling Muppet or a sock on your hand, prepare for a reeducation. “We’re the best-kept secret in performance,” Shur said. “But we shouldn’t be.” With puppets that range in size, material, and artistic approach — and a venue that Shur calls “a great space for building something even bigger” — this isn’t child’s play. It’s art, it’s theater. It’s for anyone curious enough to watch what happens when fabric is given a voice and an adult storyline.

Tickets are available at thestissingcenter.org.