Fringe World Festival Perth – Puppet Fiction

Puppet Fiction pays homage to director Quentin Tarantino’s 1994 cult movie Pulp Fiction. Three puppeteers, James Noklse , Ralph McCubbin-Howell and Anya Tate-Manning, bring eleven puppets to life to recreate Tarantino’s classic.

As you enter Rosie O’Grady’s Cabaret Bar, you are confronted by a simple miniature set that the puppets perform on and television screen which enhances several scenes. There are some magic moments as the small marionettes create a life sized performance.

Add the motion picture’s black comedy to current events, bouncing off the audience and the mishaps that come with working with puppets and the result is a Fringe show packed with laughs.

References to actors past catalog of films and personal life also add to the script. Travolta’s character often reminds the other characters to remember who they are speaking to. After all he is a pilot! The famous dance sequence which sees Travolta twist with Uma Thurman, is one of the more comedic moments as they break into the other Travolta dance movies including Staying Alive and add the theme from Titanic, Dirty Dancing – and because they are performing in an Irish Pub – finish with an Irish Jig.

Puppet Fiction is pure comedy genius as the puppeteers manage to manoeuvre the puppets and not end up in one big tangled mess. It’s true mastery involving, one would suspect, thousands of hours of rehearsals. It is truly surprising to see a puppet hold a gun or puff on a cigarette while moving around and talking.

Puppet Fiction is performed as an entire production or you can break it into a three part series. Given there are three intervals, seeing the full length three hour show is painless and keeps the laughs sequential.

For a fun night out, full of laughs, with stings attached don’t miss Puppet Fiction.