James Godwin Brings LUNATIC CUNNING to National Puppetry Festival Tonight

A semi-autobiographical mockumentary from puppetry and performance art pioneer, James Godwin, "Lunatic Cunning" mixes experiences from Godwin's own life with esoteric concepts and strikingly theatrical visuals. As a storyteller, Godwin creates a thread of narrative that bridges the gap between the mundane and the mythical. The show is a humorous examination of the occult roots of puppetry and performance itself.

Created by Co-writer's James Godwin and Tom Burnett during a residency at Dixon Place, "Lunatic Cunning" enjoyed a stellar run at Dixon Place in New York City in April 2012. With the support of the Jim Henson Foundation and Dixon Place, the show was met with much critical acclaim. Since that time, Godwin has revisited elements of the production at The National Puppetry Conference at the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center where he was a Guest Artist this past summer (June 2013).

"Lunatic Cunning" can be seen as an official selection at the National Puppetry Festival of the Puppeteers of America in Swarthmore, PA, tonight and tomorrow, August 8th and the 9th.

James Godwin is a performance and visual artist and puppeteer. He is a founding member of the Elementals puppet company and "Uncle Jimmy's Dirty Basement". His work has been presented all over NYC and beyond in such venues as P.S.122, Dixon Place, DTW, Franklin Furnace, LaMama and the Walker art center. He was also a cast member of Henson Alternative's off- broadway show "Stuffed and Unstrung". He has worked with Julie Taymor, Dave Chappelle, David Bowie and even Aerosmith. His film and T.V. credits include "I sell the dead", "Ice Age 2", as well as "It's a Big, Big World" for PBS, Saturday Night live and the forthcoming "StakeLand". Most recently James went to Washington to puppeteer Wyatt Cenac for "The Daily Show".