Show Summary

😈 The Exorcist Has No Legs
Original Run: October 10 – 25, 2013
Theatre Works – Peoria, AZ
Revival Run: October 9 – 30, 2015
The Playhouse on the Park Theatre – Phoenix, AZ

This is where it all got… unholy.

The Exorcist Has No Legs marked the All Puppet Players' arrival in Arizona, and things would never be the same. Based on the 1973 horror classic, this foul-mouthed puppet parody brought spinning heads, projectile vomit, demon dolls, and sacrilegious slapstick to the desert stage—and Phoenix audiences were not ready.

Co-produced with Theatre Works in 2013, the show was timed with the 40th anniversary of The Exorcist and served as APP’s first theatrical exorcism in the Valley. It was also the first sign that Arizona theater was about to get felted and feral. With googly-eyed puppets puking pea soup, exorcism reenactments, and pop-culture blasphemy, the show managed to be both hilarious and genuinely unsettling.

Audiences didn’t know what hit them. Reviews described the experience as “diabolical debauchery” and likened the madness to a hoedown at Honey Boo Boo’s house. And that was before the puppets started talking back. The show didn’t just parody a horror movie—it took a power drill to the fourth wall and made you laugh through the terror.

The 2015 revival at The Playhouse on the Park Theatre brought the chaos home to APP’s new permanent base. This wasn’t just a remount—it was a resurrection. The cast leaned deeper into the absurdity, the budget stayed nonexistent, and the audience grew into a loyal horde of puppet-horror fans.

From its first unholy scream to its final exorcised punchline, The Exorcist Has No Legs established APP’s signature blend of low-budget spectacle, smart-dumb humor, and emotional puppet terror. It wasn’t just a hit. It was the beginning of the Puppet Rebellion in Arizona.

Performances ran:

October 10 – 25, 2013 – Theatre Works, Peoria, AZ

October 9 – 30, 2015 – The Playhouse on the Park Theatre, Phoenix, AZ
(Heads spun. Soup flew. Arizona would never be the same.)