Review: ‘Felt Street’ is 70 minutes of puppets adapting to every situation 

The deciding factor as to whether you will enjoy Felt Street, the newest production at Dad’s Garage Theatre running Saturdays through September 28, is your affinity for puppets — not marionettes but hand puppets.

Because Dad’s Garage is housed inside a building which was previously a church, it adds to some of the venue’s slightly sacrilegious fun. Founded by seven Florida University graduates 20 years ago in Inman Park, Dad’s has been in residence on Ezzard Street for the past seven years. While traditional productions were the company’s initial agenda, they developed a strong improv base, which attracted a new, often younger audience. Currently, a regular Dad’s season consists of four scripted plays and 15 diverse improvisational shows.  

Felt Street is a funny, slightly adult and fast-moving 70 minutes. The show is unscripted and 100% improvised, where eight performers, three improvisational actors and five superb puppeteers make up its many skits. 

The primary subject of Felt Street is all types of friendship: person-to-person, fantasy-to-fantasy, puppet-to-puppet. Since every word is spontaneous, it takes a bit of concentration to realize just how much concentration is involved — not only theirs, but ours. (If you ever wondered what the adage “in the moment” means, watch the concentration of all concerned for 70 minutes!)

The fact that it all appears pre-scripted is a compliment. The nonpuppeteers are Whittney Millsap as Mary Gold, pronounced “Marigold,” a florist who speaks with the slightest British accent to hilarious effect; Jamila Porter as Beatrice the Butcher, who carries a threatening cleaver wherever she goes; and Megan Leahy as Olga, an expat from a Slavic country, who lectures on the difficulties of her life. They are all spot-on in their performances. 

Then there are five puppet masters who are the fulcrum of the skits: Christian Danley as DragonSaurus Rex; Raymond Carr as Professor Peterous Bumblecrumb; Chris Thomas Hayes as Diggy the Dog; Phoebe Bottoms as Dr. Justine St. Louis; and Jeffery Zwartjes as Refuse the Rat. 

To watch the puppets, with their distinctive personalities adapting to each new skit, is part of the fun. Dad’s Garage Artistic Producer Jon Carr acted as the voice-over host, adding bon mots to what we had just seen. Carr is obviously as quick-witted as the cast, while Bottoms, a member of Jim Henson’s organization, offers deadpan delivery that must be seen to be believed. She is brilliant. 

Considering that there is no credited director for the show, Carr was responsible for getting it on its feet, and the creative team managed to use the stage in its entirety. The set is minimal with only a few chairs, a bench and tables here and there. Kudos to Justin Geer for his appropriate musical interludes, Brian Jeter for his technical wizardry and Liz Singleton, the adept stage manager. While the lighting is perfunctory, it does its job well because the focus, as it should be, is on the puppets. 

Speaking of light, the highlight of the evening was the fashion show for all the puppets just before the finale. Audience members haven’t lived until they have seen the arms of the puppeteers in baubles, bangles and beads — and dresses worn by their runway struttin’ puppets. 

There was also a hysterical psychiatrist’s session between the husky-voiced dragon and Dr. St. Louis. It seems that dragons do, indeed, suffer trauma from bad breath. I can understand audiences visiting more than once to see what other humorous situations our talented friends wind up in. You, the kids and the kid inside you will have a terrific time on Felt Street. 

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Jeffrey Bruce, originally from New York, has been an actor/director for many years in both touring and regional companies and trained with Sanford Meisner and Bill Hickey. After performing in South Florida for the past three decades, he now calls Atlanta his home.