LAWRENCE
LENHART

Pop Goes the Ferret! 

a cowpunk fantasia 

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based on the book, Backvalley Ferrets, by Lawrence Lenhart

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Despite being declared extinct (twice!), the black-footed ferret (BFF) is making a comeback just outside of Seligman, Arizona. This is all thanks to a conservation regimen that includes vaccinations, captive breeding, cloning, and volunteers like Larry, the schlubby tenderfoot whose quixotic dedication to the species overshadows his own familial interests. When Larry invites his new bride, Andie, to spotlight the prairie dog towns of the Aubrey Valley, she blindsides him with a request: "Let's have a baby?" What ensues is a madcap journey through Larry's mind as he grapples with what it would mean—for him, the ferrets, and humanity—to sire a superpredator in the Anthropocene. In a landscape menaced by habitat fragmentation, bacterial plague, settler colonialism, and soil death, a ferret must be resilient. Will the ferrets survive human breeding? Will the flea swatters keep the plague at bay? Will Andie's wish come true? Find out at the theatrical debut of Pop Goes the Ferret! The beguiling weasel at the center of this rock opera slinks across the stage through original songs, puppetry, and multimedia. The show will be followed by a talkback with writers, musicians, actors, and the director.