Detroit Puppet Slam

An annual celebration of puppet talent in Detroit since 2017.

This annual event provides stipends for new and contemporary puppet works by local and national artists, presented to Detroit and Hamtramck audiences.

 

2024 Detroit Puppet Slam

Submission information for the 2024 Detroit Puppet Slam will go live on July 1! Sign up for our email list below to be notified once it does!

 

About the PUPPET Slam

The Detroit Puppet Slam has been a staple of the Detroit Puppet Company since 2017. This program highlights the works of local talent and national puppeteers. Each lively iteration of the Detroit Puppet Slam is bright, thought-provoking, and curious in nature, and includes a range of hosted works on varied topics. All performances are handicap and wheelchair accessible. To receive program notices and open call invitations, please subscribe to our email list, follow us on social media, or send us a message.

 
 
 

2022 Detroit Puppet Slam

Presenting artists included: Aaron Hightower Sr & Aaron Hightower Jr; James Abbott; abandoned ships; Monty Etzcorn; Flaming Cardboard Theater, including Lindsay McCaw and Jason Hicks; Randy Harp; Meg Harris; Oliver Pookrum; Cameron Prevatte; Jasmine Rose; Maddie Shubeck; Emilia White.

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2021 Detroit Puppet Slam

Presenting artists included: Flaming Cardboard Theater, including Lindsay M., Jason Hicks, and Kristi Ternes, with music by Joel Jackson and Walter Prettyman; James Abbott with Monty Etzcorn; Tom Carey; Allyson Gonzalez; Kate Brehm; Bridget Quinn and Leslie Rogers; Zach Kolodziej.

An evening outdoor performance with a cardboard stage and backdrop, as part of the annual Detroit Puppet Slam, with an engaged seated audience. Live music by two musicians accompanies the performance.
 

2020 Detroit Puppet Slam

Presenting artists included: James Abbott; Tom Carey with narration by Sonja BC and soundtrack by Cody BC; Mike Chin; Monty Etzcorn and Scott Crandall with music and sound by Kirsten Carey; Kevin Kammeraad; Justin Haveman, Joseph Emory, and Kay Backstrom; Zach Kolodziej with Noor Sabah and Emily Berry; Lindsay McCaw with music by Joel Jackson; Dorothy Melander-Dayton with storytelling by Marianne Jacquet, Sun Voung and Renee Willoughby, and production assist by Luke Fitch; abandoned ships with Milissa Orzolek and Sam Hollier; North Sinistar with Lindsey, Skylar, and Anya; Kristi Ternes; Leslie Wacker with sound by Atonuv Audio; Renee Willoughby.

A shadow puppet depiction with a multi-color backdrop, depicting two seemingly nude creatures with large eyes, embracing and kissing, in an intimate moment.
Performers and puppeteers, Zachary Kolodziej holding a white cat, Noor Sabah, and Emily Berry, in frightened and anxious poses, standing beside a large scale red-skinned puppet costume, all standing behind jail cell bars.
An elderly Person of Color hand puppet with gold rimmed glasses and tan jacket.
 

2019 Detroit Puppet Slam

Presenting artists included: Bonnie Duncan with The Gottabees, Carrie Morris, Scott Crandall, and Zachary Kolodziej

Performer and puppeteer, Bonnie Duncan, with theatrical troupe The Gottabees, with her hands over a bright white light, casting hand shadow puppets, as part of an indoor evening performance.
Performer and puppeteer, Scott Crandall, in a disheveled white suit, holding a skull shaped vessel, with an attached skeletal spine that is held up by his teeth, in a science-themed indoor evening performance.
Performer and puppeteer, Zachary Kolodziej, holding a scrap piece of paper with an early conceptual sketch of creatures sitting around a table, as part of their performance.
 

2018 Detroit Puppet Slam

Presenting artists included: Honey Goodenough; Sarah Nolen; Carrie Morris and Monty Etzcorn; Bryan Parcival; Naia Venturi; Nick Wickstrom.

An audience seated and wearing handmade aluminum foil hats, while watching an indoor shadow puppet performance that depicts a pyramid with an eye.
An audience seated and watching an indoor table-top performance.
An audience seated and wearing handmade aluminum foil hats, while watching an indoor performance that includes live actors and a hand puppet with a top hat.
 

2017 Detroit Puppet Slam

Presenting artists included: abandoned ships with Milissa Orzolek; Torri Lynn Ashford; Nightshade with Sarah Frechette and Jason Thibodeaux; Shoshanna Utchenik with Interstate Arts; Maurice Greenia Jr.

A large indoor audience of adults and children, densely packed with some seated and some standing, in anticipation for the first performance act of the evening.
An evening outdoor shadow puppet performance, with puppeteer, utilizing a light projector and a loosely woven white sheet that is suspended across two trees.