B*TCH EAT DOG
Edinburgh, United Kingdom | Theatre
LGBTQ, Experimental
B*TCH EAT DOG is a puppet-filled sketch show that uses classics, feminist theory, and singing willies to interrogate the ethics of pursuit. We are bringing B*TCH EAT DOG to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. With your support, we can bring the cast and crew (puppets and all) across the pond.
17 supporters | followers
Enter the amount you would like to pledge
$2,890
Goal: $4,000 for festivals
B*TCH EAT DOG is a puppet-filled sketch show that uses classics, feminist theory, and singing willies to interrogate the ethics of pursuit. We are bringing B*TCH EAT DOG to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. With your support, we can bring the cast and crew (puppets and all) across the pond.
About The Project
- The Story
- Wishlist
- Updates
- The Team
- Community
Mission Statement
The Story
The lights are up and the audience is filing in. Onstage, the empty puppet booth yawns open like a mouth with bottle cap teeth. The heckling oysters watch the audience, motionless until their puppeteer brings them to life. The front row is being offered ponchos. The show is about to begin.
This is B*TCH EAT DOG: a puppet-filled feminist sketch show that uses classic texts, grotesque satire, and singing willies to interrogate the gendered ethics of pursuit. It had its world premiere at the Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry (University of Connecticut) in April 2026. This August, we're taking it to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, and we need your help to get it there.
B*TCH EAT DOG goes where polite feminism doesn't. Across its sketches - a play on Moby Dick that pillories girlboss feminism, a tradwife's milk empire, an IUD insertion that escalates alarmingly - B*TCH EAT DOG skewers every side of the conversation about gender and pursuit using the infinite visual language of puppets to take the audience where people alone cannot.
The show was created by Mel Carter, multi disciplinary artist whose work sits at the intersection of visual and performing arts. For a long time her work alternated between the two: she'd go from leading an original devised piece about the fragility of subcultures, to creating a sculpture for the Center on Contemporary Art; from going on a national tour with a classical theatre company, to painting a road mural for the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities. Eventually Mel realized she could combine these two passions through puppetry. She embarked on an MFA in Puppet Arts at UConn, where B*TCH EAT DOG came to life.
We're bringing B*TCH EAT DOG to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, August 7-29, where we were selected to participate in one of the largest venues' summer 2026 line-up. The Fringe is the biggest stage in the world with the audience we're trying most to reach: people eager to see the most wild, creative, and raucous versions of what the performing arts can do.
The Fringe is a completely self-funded endeavor. The artists pay to get there, rent the venue, hire technicians, and market the show. We're covering most of the costs through ticket sales and personal funding, but we need a bit of extra help. Your support gets the people and the puppets there. We're raising $4,000 to help cover flights, a share of our accommodation, and puppet transport for our cast of three.
What's in it for you? Merch designed by Mel herself, bread baked by one of our producers, personalized Fringe recommendations, and even a way to watch the show yourself from the other side of the world. However you participate, you get to become a part of getting a furious, funny, feminist puppet show in front of one of the biggest audiences in the world.
Can't give right now? You can still help enormously: follow this campaign, share it, and follow us on social media. All of it helps make B*TCH EAT DOG a success.
Wishlist
Use the WishList to Pledge cash and Loan items - or - Make a pledge by selecting an Incentive directly.
Flights to Edinburgh
Costs $1,000
This will help cover flights for our three artists to fly from Connecticut to Edinburgh and back home again.
Accommodation in Edinburgh
Costs $2,500
Shared accommodation for our three artists near our venue in Edinburgh
Puppet transport to Edinburgh
Costs $500
Our sprawling cast of puppets need to catch a ride to Edinburgh as well - help fly them over!
Direct link:
Share this update!
About This Team
Mel Carter: Creator & Performer
Mel Carter is a Seattle-born, DC-bred performance artist, puppeteer, and creator of B*TCH EAT DOG. She recently completed an MFA in Puppet Arts at the University of Connecticut, where the show had its world premiere at the Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry. Her puppetry includes collaborations with Pilobolus Dance Theater, Bread and Puppet Theater, Paloma Puppet Theatre, and OddFellows Playhouse. Her visual art has appeared in the Washington Post and Cuntry Living. She is a recipient of the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities' Fellowship and a Color the Curb grant.
Gail Bennet: Performer
Anthony Sellitto-Budney: Performer
Chris Sanderson and McKenzie Millican: Producers
Chris and Melissa met 13 years ago through the undergraduate theater program at James Madison University, where they were co-stars in Dr. Faustus their very first semester in college. They became fast friends and co-conspirators, and their collaborations since range from eight hour durational devised theater pieces to creating and filming a Survivor-inspired YouTube series.
McKenzie met Chris and Melissa through Studio Theatre's apprenticeship program in Washington, DC. Chris and McKenzie have attended the Edinburgh Fringe Festival together as audience members for the past few summers, and were thrilled when Melissa said yes to their late-night, post-show pitch to take her piece on this international adventure.
Current Team
Incentives
- The Story
- Wishlist
- Updates
- The Team
- Community
Mission Statement
The Story
The lights are up and the audience is filing in. Onstage, the empty puppet booth yawns open like a mouth with bottle cap teeth. The heckling oysters watch the audience, motionless until their puppeteer brings them to life. The front row is being offered ponchos. The show is about to begin.
This is B*TCH EAT DOG: a puppet-filled feminist sketch show that uses classic texts, grotesque satire, and singing willies to interrogate the gendered ethics of pursuit. It had its world premiere at the Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry (University of Connecticut) in April 2026. This August, we're taking it to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, and we need your help to get it there.
B*TCH EAT DOG goes where polite feminism doesn't. Across its sketches - a play on Moby Dick that pillories girlboss feminism, a tradwife's milk empire, an IUD insertion that escalates alarmingly - B*TCH EAT DOG skewers every side of the conversation about gender and pursuit using the infinite visual language of puppets to take the audience where people alone cannot.
The show was created by Mel Carter, multi disciplinary artist whose work sits at the intersection of visual and performing arts. For a long time her work alternated between the two: she'd go from leading an original devised piece about the fragility of subcultures, to creating a sculpture for the Center on Contemporary Art; from going on a national tour with a classical theatre company, to painting a road mural for the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities. Eventually Mel realized she could combine these two passions through puppetry. She embarked on an MFA in Puppet Arts at UConn, where B*TCH EAT DOG came to life.
We're bringing B*TCH EAT DOG to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, August 7-29, where we were selected to participate in one of the largest venues' summer 2026 line-up. The Fringe is the biggest stage in the world with the audience we're trying most to reach: people eager to see the most wild, creative, and raucous versions of what the performing arts can do.
The Fringe is a completely self-funded endeavor. The artists pay to get there, rent the venue, hire technicians, and market the show. We're covering most of the costs through ticket sales and personal funding, but we need a bit of extra help. Your support gets the people and the puppets there. We're raising $4,000 to help cover flights, a share of our accommodation, and puppet transport for our cast of three.
What's in it for you? Merch designed by Mel herself, bread baked by one of our producers, personalized Fringe recommendations, and even a way to watch the show yourself from the other side of the world. However you participate, you get to become a part of getting a furious, funny, feminist puppet show in front of one of the biggest audiences in the world.
Can't give right now? You can still help enormously: follow this campaign, share it, and follow us on social media. All of it helps make B*TCH EAT DOG a success.
Wishlist
Use the WishList to Pledge cash and Loan items - or - Make a pledge by selecting an Incentive directly.
Flights to Edinburgh
Costs $1,000
This will help cover flights for our three artists to fly from Connecticut to Edinburgh and back home again.
Accommodation in Edinburgh
Costs $2,500
Shared accommodation for our three artists near our venue in Edinburgh
Puppet transport to Edinburgh
Costs $500
Our sprawling cast of puppets need to catch a ride to Edinburgh as well - help fly them over!
Direct link:
Share this update!
About This Team
Mel Carter: Creator & Performer
Mel Carter is a Seattle-born, DC-bred performance artist, puppeteer, and creator of B*TCH EAT DOG. She recently completed an MFA in Puppet Arts at the University of Connecticut, where the show had its world premiere at the Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry. Her puppetry includes collaborations with Pilobolus Dance Theater, Bread and Puppet Theater, Paloma Puppet Theatre, and OddFellows Playhouse. Her visual art has appeared in the Washington Post and Cuntry Living. She is a recipient of the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities' Fellowship and a Color the Curb grant.
Gail Bennet: Performer
Anthony Sellitto-Budney: Performer
Chris Sanderson and McKenzie Millican: Producers
Chris and Melissa met 13 years ago through the undergraduate theater program at James Madison University, where they were co-stars in Dr. Faustus their very first semester in college. They became fast friends and co-conspirators, and their collaborations since range from eight hour durational devised theater pieces to creating and filming a Survivor-inspired YouTube series.
McKenzie met Chris and Melissa through Studio Theatre's apprenticeship program in Washington, DC. Chris and McKenzie have attended the Edinburgh Fringe Festival together as audience members for the past few summers, and were thrilled when Melissa said yes to their late-night, post-show pitch to take her piece on this international adventure.