Puppet Man, Synopsis
Inmate #6627405, Luther “Pretty Boy” DuPree has begun a 28-year sentence at the North Central Correctional Institute (NCCI) for losing control of his gun during a fight. 22 years old, the refuge he finds from the voices which torment him is in the drugs he gets from DuVall Word, the fellow convict who has his finger in most of the dirty deals that go on at NCCCI. Pretty Boy steals fruit juice from the kitchen, Word takes it, ferments it and sells it as jail yard hooch. Word gets Pretty Boy his “medicine”.
Now, however, Word is upping the ante. He wants Pretty Boy to “turn” a C.O. (Corrections Officer) to continue to receive the “medicine”. C.O. Cunningham has the hots for Pretty Boy; Word correctly assumes that if Pretty Boy puts out, Cunningham will return the favor. Pretty Boy recoils from this suggestion, but proposes another. A social services program at the prison produces puppets shows once a month for children visiting their fathers at the facility. Pretty Boy proposes to join the program, and get the woman who runs it (Dr. Markos) to bring in contraband as directed by Word. Word agrees, saying that at the end of three months, Pretty Boy must convince Dr. Markos to bring in a ham radio on a gate pass. The radio will be loaded with contraband, and the gate pass will allow it to bypass normal inspection protocols. If Pretty Boy can do this, Word will continue to give him his medicine.
Pretty Boy endures a nerve wracking “audition”, but becomes part of the puppet group. Not completely satisfied, Word continues to push Pretty Boy toward C.O. Cunningham, further destabilizing Pretty Boy. Taking increasing amounts of drugs to quiet the voices, Pretty Boy suffers a psychotic break during a puppet training exercise and ends up in solitary.
Having lost a month of the three-month trial, Pretty Boy redoubles his efforts to get the radio. He builds a puppet for an upcoming show, Little Red Riding Hood. His creation (“Pretty Girl”) seems to take on a life of her own. The puppeteers begin to trust Pretty Boy, and are convinced he can come to terms even with his 28-year sentence. “Everything in life does not lend itself to simple understanding,” one of the puppeteers (“Dayton”) tells Pretty Boy. Markos casts “Pretty Girl” as the star of an upcoming production, and tells Pretty Boy she will bring the radio if he does well. “Pretty Girl” continues to develop her own personality, commanding C.O. Cunningham to back off when he becomes too familiar with Pretty Boy.
After one of Word’s other accomplices is busted for smuggling, Pretty Boy sees that his actions are putting Dr. Markos and the puppet program in jeopardy. With Pretty Girl’s help, he tells Word that he is out….no ham radio, no more fruit juice, nothing. Unwilling to accept this betrayal, Word shanks Pretty Boy. In his haze, Pretty Boy realizes that the Hunter from the Red Riding Hood story has appeared in the dorm. “I have come to save Red Riding Hood” the hunter says, as Pretty Boy blacks out.
In the final moments of the play, it is revealed that Dayton, a convicted murderer, overheard Pretty Boy’s distress, has stepped in and dispatched Duvall Word. A simple choice made by Pretty Boy led to an outcome he could never have expected, as Little Red Riding Hood never expected to be saved by the Hunter in her story. As Pretty Boy sees, “Everything in life does not lend itself to simple understanding.”
This play is inspired by true events which took place at the North Central Correctional Institute in Marion, Ohio, from 2000-2007.