THE SEX LIVES OF PUPPETS at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe

★★★★

“it really is quite an eye-opener to see how many naughty positions the puppets can get themselves into”

I remember working on a puppet show a few years ago and one of the first things the puppetry director said to us was ‘don’t make the puppets do sex acts, ever’. She’d clearly never seen (or wasn’t a fan of) Avenue Q, and I imagine would be walking out of this show in protest. Clearly, Blind Summit are working with a different team and principles altogether, as this puppet show is pretty much just sex (although actually mostly just puppets talking about sex, until the big puppet orgy in the last scene, where it really hits its climax!).

Directed by Ben Keaton and Mark Down, and performed by four brilliant puppeteers (Lucy Lichfield, Isobel Griffiths, Briony O’Callaghan and Dale Wylde), the show takes the format of a series of interviews-to-camera, set up in a photoshoot studio with a white backdrop, each interview consisting of one or two puppet characters, sometimes responding to a question or other times just talking about their relationships. We meet a varied range of people, from the very posh and proper Dmitri and his wife to Katie and Helen, a lesbian couple telling about their experience of a ‘cum blob’.

Each of the performers are incredibly versatile, taking on different accent and voices and finding the very detailed movement and quality of each of the characters. Harry and Frankie are an older couple from New York, Frankie looking a bit like Edna Mode, with dark shiny black hair which she flirtatiously strokes her finger through when things are getting flirty. It’s this sort of detail which really shows off the skill of these performers, and of their directors.

Of course, the success of this show is also very much down to the design brilliance of Russell Dean, who puts so much care and attention to detail into each of the puppets. From Harry’s long tie which hangs below his waistband to Cockney-geezer Clive’s leather jacket, there’s no item, colour or material out of place. Each puppet moves freely with every slight breath or gesture from the puppeteers, allowing the audience to really forget that the puppets aren’t actually alive at all.

Whilst most of the show plays for comedy, there are also some really touching moments, as characters reveal intimate details about themselves, their loneliness or desires. There are also a couple of scenes which have more serious tones. These sometimes feel a little out of place in the rest of the show, but it’s nice to see the versatility of emotion that the puppets are capable off.

The final scene is a hilariously choreographed puppet orgy, and it really is quite an eye-opener to see how many naughty positions the puppets can get themselves into. If you’re looking for some outrageous puppet comedy, with a little bit of heart along the way, then this will be the perfect show for you.

THE SEX LIVES OF PUPPETS at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe – Pleasance Courtyard – Beyond

Reviewed on 12th August 2024

by Joseph Dunitz

Photography by Mark Down

THE SEX LIVES OF PUPPETS

THE SEX LIVES OF PUPPETS

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