London is abuzz with international puppet theatre- though unfortunately most of the shows have not attracted the audiences they deserve. I saw Australian company Suitcase Royale at the Soho Theatre on Tuesday 12 July (reviewing the show for Animations Online) followed by Loco7 from New York City in In Retrospect at Wilson's Music Hall on 15 July, Canadian hand shadow puppeteer Jeff Achtem at the Udderbelly on the Southbank (17 July) and Thai troupe Joe Louis Puppet Company at Thai Square Restaurant at Sevenoaks (again on 17 July).
There are other shows I've had to miss too, including some interesting-looking student work at a youth theatre festival in Kingston.
Nobody really keeps track of all the puppet theatre flowing through London. The British Puppet and Model Theatre Guild has a pretty good listing section, but information is submitted voluntarily by people in the puppet community, and inevitably things are missed. I feel privileged to have the time and means as an academic to see so much, but wonder if more could not be made of the huge variety of stuff happening around London today, along the line perhaps of the Henson Foundation's Puppet Happenings (a weekly newsletter listing puppetry events in New York). Maybe something to suggest to the Puppet Centre Trust....
Hand puppet by Charles Ludlam, from Ludlam's Punch and Judy show
About Me
- Matthew Isaac Cohen
- I am Professor of International Theatre at Royal Holloway, University of London, with research interests in Indonesian performing arts and traditions of puppetry around the world. I also perform as a shadow puppeteer (dalang) on occasion - see http://kandabuwana.wordpress.com/
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