"The Sh*tty Deal Puppet Theatre Company's Complete Guide to the Arts" is a frenetic and anarchic bungee-jump through history, taking a skewed and hilarious view of artistic endeavour in all its forms, including everything from caveman art to sharks in formaldehyde, all under the unnerving helm of embittered clown puppet, Mr Doper.

Doper's innocent friend Bobby has to write an essay on the History of Art, and the gin-soaked clown is more than happy to help. Cue a barrage of bizarre snapshots from history, played out by a rag-tag bunch of puppets, Barbies, a flying fourteen-inch Jesus doll and lashings of chocolate syrup.

Played out behind a paint-splattered screen by four puppeteers and a cast of over fifty puppets, “Sh*tty Deal” is the most surreal, satirical and downright hilarious puppet show you will see this year.

The Company.

Will Averill, Andy Bennett and Tom Butterworth formed Axis Of Evil Productions in 2004. The aim of this company is the creation, development, production and performance of original theatre and film material. Their first production, The Coalition, was a live action postmodern sitcom about two English lads who get an American flat-mate over the Internet. The show premiered at the Garage Theatre in Norwich to great acclaim, and Axis of Evil has so far produced eight full episodes of The Coalition. In addition, they have produced the social satire Bombing For Dummies (Norwich Arts Centre, April 2007) and several Sh*tty Deal Puppet Theatre Company productions, culminating in a critically-acclaimed run at the Edinburgh Fringe 2007. With the exception of the puppet show, all these productions have involved significant multimedia content, including presentations and film shorts, all written, shot, directed and edited by the company. Further episodes of The Coalition were performed at the Norwich Playhouse in January 2008, and a new Sh*tty Deal show for Edinburgh will be previewed at The Pulse Festival.