Trouble Puppet Theater Co. presents a diabolically divine new show starring larger-than-life puppets sparring in the ring for our minds and souls! Funded in part by the Jim Henson Foundation, Smackdown! provides an absolutely one-of-a-kind entertainment at the intersection of pro wrestling, televangelism, political debate, and PUPPETS.

A spectacle for its times! Rabbit, one of the fighters in the match, sets about trying to un-rig a game that has been rigged—literally—for millennia. But how do you fight the most powerful Powers That Be?

The show is created by the award-winning company (“one of the most revered theater companies in the city” —Austin Chronicle) that brought Austin award-winning productions of The Jungle, Riddley Walker, Toil and Trouble, The Cruel Circus, The Head, Hyde & Jekyll, Wars of Heaven: Part I, and Frankenstein. NOTE: This is TPT's last mainstage show at Salvage Vanguard Theater, which loses its lease in June.

Special guests nightly—Let LOLA (Local Opera Local Artists, creators of the award-winning La Femme Boheme) move and thrill you!

ASL interpretation May 6.

Group sales welcome. Director/cast talkbacks available for groups of five or more.

**Not created for children. Probably OK for ages 13+.**

 

 

Funded in part by the Jim Henson Foundation, Smackdown! provides an absolutely one-of-a-kind entertainment at the intersection of pro wrestling, televangelism, political debate, and PUPPETS.

Artistic Director: Connor Hopkins

Composer: Justin Sherburn

Sound design by K. Eliot Haynes

Media design by Chris Owen

Poster by Leah Lovisa

Lighting by Kevin Long

Costumes by Kelli Bland

Build by Connor Hopkins, Magda Riley, Jacqueline Landsman, et al.

 

Performers: Gricelda Silva, Zac Crofford, Michelle Dahlenburg, Caroline Reck, Michael Ferstenfeld, Julie Moore, Emily Ash, and Jay Young

 

 

Founded in 2004, Trouble Puppet is dedicated to the creation of exceptional works of puppet theater, to the promotion of the art of puppetry, and to the support of its practitioners. Trouble Puppet is a sponsored project of Salvage Vanguard Theater. This project is funded and supported in part by the City of Austin through the Economic Development Department/Cultural Arts Division and by the Jim Henson Foundation.

 

April 21–May 15, 2016 (8 pm Thu–Sat; Sun shows at 5 pm)

 

WHERE: Salvage Vanguard Theater, 2803 Manor Road, Austin, TX 78722

 

Tickets: $15 general admission, $12 students, seniors, vets, $25 & $50 support levels available; group rate $10 available via