Queer Mummer Puppet Theatre, 2019. Performed during A Handmade Assembly at Struts Gallery and Faucet Media Centre.
Photos by Todd Fraser/Struts and Faucet.

First performed at Struts Gallery and Faucet Media Centre during A Handmade Assembly in Sackville, New Brunswick, Canada, by The Queer Mummer, alter-ego of Canadian visual artist Lucas Morneau, Queer Mummer Puppet Theatre references Canadian children’s television programs such as Mr. Dressup and Téléfrançais while also referencing traditional Punch and Judy puppet shows. Queer Mummer Puppet Theatre also queers the gallery, turning the white cube into a stage for traditional drag performance techniques such as lip syncs and comedy skits.

In the performance, The Queer Mummer, adorned in fully crocheted Elizabethan-inspired jester motley, demonstrates through camp and slapstick how to create a sock puppet. During this portion of the performance, The Queer Mummer stabs themselves by accident with a sewing needle and burns their hand with hot glue, referencing the slapstick comedy of Canadian shows like The Red Green Show. After the creation of the puppet, The Queer Mummer breathes life into the sock by lip syncing along to Evanescence’s famous hit Bring Me To Life, in which the puppet joins along as the male vocalist of the song. Next, the puppet show commences, with references to Newfoundland culture and queer culture, including references to Newfoundland delicacies such as liquor-filled “Christmas slush”, and the gay dating app Grindr. The puppet play follows Tipsy Magoo, a marotte version of The Queer Mummer, and the unfortunate events that follow a house visit gone wrong. Following the end of the puppet play, The Queer Mummer performs a final lip sync to The Go-Go’s Our Lips Are Sealed. 

Thanks to Cox & Palmer for the support with this project.