Dixon Place Presents the World Premiere of James Godwin's Lunatic Cunning

Dixon Place Presents the world premiere of James Godwin's Lunatic Cunning, Friday, April 6,7,13,14,20,21 at 7:30pm. Visit www.dixonplace.org or call 212-219-0736 for more information.

Tickets: $15 (advance), $18 / $12 stu/sen or TDFLunatic Cunning is an original, new work by James Godwin, puppetry and performance art pioneer and founder of puppet comedy troupe, The Elementals. Lunatic Cunning is a solo, semi-autobiographical 'mockumentary', mixing experiences from Godwin's own life – such as work with Julie Taymor on Across the Universe, as well as appearances on Saturday Night Live, Chappelle's Show, PBS and with the Muppets--with an examination of the occult roots of puppetry
and performance art.

The plot of Lunatic Cunning focuses on a shaman who is asked to cure a tribal elder who is dying of old age by using a language and puppet channeled to him by the spirit of the shaman. Structured as a lecture, the piece uses several puppet techniques such as tabletop, marionette, hand, shadow, mask and object. Highlighting the multiple techniques will be live drawing, ritual, lights and sound which make the connections between the various episodes and vignettes. The action of the show revolves around several stories from the artist's personal experiences and others that relay theory and parables.

James Godwin is a puppeteer and actor who served as a Muppet performer on Elmo's Christmas Countdown and A Muppets Christmas: Letters to Santa. Godwin's non-Muppet credits include such series as It's a Big Big World (as Bob), The Book of Pooh (puppeteering Pooh), Between the Lions, and Oobi. Godwin founded the puppet troupe the Elementals, which has performed at the Jim Henson International Festival of Puppet Theater. He also co-wrote and starred in the adult puppet variety stage show Uncle Jimmy's Dirty Basement. As a voice actor, Godwin played Private Public and Farmer John on Mo Willems' Sheep in the Big City. His theater work has been seen internationally and including P.S. 122, Dance Theater Workshop, Here, Walker Art Center, Franklin Furnace, La Mama, Soho Rep, and in the Henson International Festival of Puppetry. He has designed and built puppets for Julie Taymor's Across The Universe, Mac Wellman's Infrared, and the artist Pierre Huyghe. Film credits include I Sell The Dead, Stakeland, and Ice Age
2.

LUNATIC CUNNING is commissioned and presented by Dixon Place with public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts, a State Agency; and the City of New York Department of Cultural Affairs and private funds from The Jim Henson Foundation, The Peg Santvoord Foundation and The Jerome Foundation.

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