And you thought the Collyer Brothers were just some mentally ill hoarders. Now, they’re also great theater.
The famous pack-rat duo is the spiritual influence behind a quirky new puppet show about hoarding.
With at least four television shows dedicated to the once-obscure psychosis, it’s no surprise that even puppeteers are jumping on the bandwagon.
After all, it’s a universal concern to city apartment dwellers.
“When you see my show, there will be something that you see where you’ll gasp and say ‘I do the same thing!’ ” said Carole D’Agostino, whose one-woman, 12-puppet production, “The Hoarding Show,” runs Sept. 22-24 at the Clockworks Theatre on Columbia Street.
The show comprises three segments: a monologue overview of hoarding involving a renter facing eviction; a shadow puppet show inspired by the Collyer saga; and a satire about the positive social aspects of hoarding.
“It’s a monologue encouraging you to hoard, like, ‘What do you mean you have no space, stack and stash it in your shower, it’s not like the water works!’ ” D’Agostino said. “I’m addressing the psychology of hoarding to make it appealing to non-hoarders.”
The Collyer segment, developed with OBIE Award-winning puppeteer Paul Zaloom, details the brothers’ bizarre, 130-ton collection — so massive that it ended up killing them.
D’Agostino spent at least 150 hours creating the hoarder’s home, creating minor details like individual magazines and letters that were fit for a puppet.
“I spent a lot of time on building, designing, researching and construction.” D’Agostino said, pointing out a set cluttered with flags, vases, crates, jars, bags and yarn, all scaled to the size of a puppet pack rat.
Oscar the Grouch would be right at home.
“The Hoarding Show” at the Clockworks Puppet Theatre [196 Columbia St, between Sackett and Degraw streets in Cobble Hill, (212) 614-0001], Sept. 22–Sept. 24, 8 pm. Tickets are $25. For info, visit www.cosmicbicycle.com.
