B*TCH EAT DOG is a puppet-filled sketch show that uses classical texts, feminist theory, and singing willys to interrogate the gendered ethics of pursuit. Punch and Judy puppets perform a gender swapped adaptation of Moby Dick that explores the fallacies of girlboss feminism. A tradwife named Felicity Groundwater hawks her questionable raw milk wares and ultimately breastfeeds a member of the audience with one of her many pendulous burlap boobs. A new kind of IUD insertion escalates until rats are being shoved down a cervix. The evening is hosted by a hapless, well-intentioned white man who flails wildly as his misguided attempts at allyship lead to a painful realization.
Content Warning:
Violence, Sexual Assault, Puppet Nudity
PERFORMANCES
Greenfield, MA - June 6 - Last Ditch Bar
Providence, RI - June 9 - Lost Bag
Plainfield, VT - June 10 - Plainfield Opera House
Newmarket, NH - June 11- Newmarket Millspace
Portland, ME - June 12 - Mayo Street Arts
NYC - June 19 - The Brick
Troy, NY - June 25 - Arts Center Black Box
Burlington, VT - June 26 - Off Center
NYC - June 28 - Jalopy Theatre
DC - July - District Fringe
Edinburgh - August - Edinburgh Fringe
TRAILER
PRESS
"Hilarious... shocking, raw and vulnerable"
"Important and timely"
"This is one you don’t want to miss"
CREDITS
Written by Mel Carter
Music by Camille Charlier
Performed by Mel Carter, Gail Bennett, Camille Charlier, & Anthony Sellitto-Budney
Stage Managed by Davis Keaney
Assistant Stage Managed by Joei D'aloia
Set Design by Mel Carter & John Parmelee
Lighting Design by Mel Carter
Sound Design by Jack Collins
Costume Design by Mia Carini
Produced by McKenzie Elliott, Chris Sanderson, Davis Keaney
Puppet Design by Mel Carter, Ali Etesamifar, Maddie Shubeck, Max Kountz, Gail Bennett
Fabrication Assistance by Ali Etesamifar, Allison Carter, Amy Carter, Claire Cummings, Cadence Harris, Aslan Hoffman, Dean Hernandez, Gail Bennett, Isi Jabornik, Jack Collins, Jerry Harney, Joei D’aloia, Kaz Stronge, Lily Rose Mindenhall, Joe Newman-Getzler, Lorelie Tindall, Maddie Szymaszek, Matt Sorensen, Maz Kountz, Mel Rivera, Nix Burns, Oliver Fisher, Rosie Grunzke, Sam Kaszas, Tessa Beck Fey, and Tom Tuke
Script Edits by Mack Brown, Katie Ciszek, Natsu Onoda Power, Tyler Bunch, Liz Hara, Chris Sanderson, Jerry Harney, Tom Tuke, Lana Tleimat, Sadie Aiken, Lindsay Cummings, Megan Rivas, Rebecca Whitney Klein, Crystal Rae Wiley, Dylan Arredondo, John Bell, Alyson Doyle, Ashley Stafford, Jacob Tibbet
Outside Eyes Megan Rivas, Lindsay Cummings, Lillian Ransijn, Ulysses Jones, Matt Sorensen, Anatar Marmol-Gagné, Sadie Aiken, Max Kountz, Abigail Baird, Jerry Harney, Tom Tuke, Susan Tolis, Bart Roccoberton
Additional Thanks Amy Carter, Jody Carter, Barbara Tanner, Anne Carter, Mike Demers, Hza Bažant, Harley Walker, Amy Liou, Kat Corrigan, Christianne Smith, Emily Wicks, Gino Costabile, Eli Bondar, Eliza Kaye
References Chamber Theater by Robert Breen, “Confessions of a TikTok tradwife” by Kara Kennedy, Consent Friendly Flirting by Ahnna Marie, The Creation of Patriarchy by Gerda Lerner, Eighty Years and More: Reminiscences 1815-1897 by Elizabeth Cady Stanton, “The Intersection of Dating Scripts and Queer Theory: An Analysis of Dating Experiences of Gay Men in West Texas” by Robert B Layne II B.A., Jane Eyre by Charolette Brontë, Lumen: Introduction to Psychology - Social Norms and Scripts, “Meet the queen of the ‘trad wives’” by Megan Agnew, Middlemarch by George Eliot, Moby Dick by Herman Melville, The Mystery of Female Orgasm with Sarah Barmak, “Nara Smith Built her Dream Life from Scratch” by Chloe Hall, Pleasure Activism: The Politics of Feeling Good by Adrienne Maree Brown, Punch and Judy, “Tradwife life isn’t as good as it looks on TikTok” by Isabella Gomez Sarmiento, The Trouble with White Women: A Counterhistory of Feminism by Kyla Schuller, “The Un-Trad Rise of Nara Aziza Smith” by Biana Betancourt, “We Can Write the Scripts Ourselves”: Queer Challenges to Heteronormative Courtship Practices by Ellen Lamont