Little Angel Theatre have released the line-up for their annual Children’s Puppet Festival
The Children’s Puppet Festival will offer young audiences a wider range of imaginative puppetry performance from a range of award-winning groups. The festival, which takes place in August, is now in its third year. In its inaugural year, it was awarded a ‘one-off’ Office Award at the Off West End Awards Ceremony.
Highlights this year will include two shows blending music and puppetry, with singalong adventures. The first, Shoe Baby, will feature music from Tom Gray – a band member in Gomez; the second, Tales from the Lighthouse will showcase original music from BBC Radio 2 Folk Music Award nominee Cohen Braithwaite-Kilcoyne.
Other festival highlights will include a jazz-inspired marionette production called The Pigeon and the Peacock, the 5-star Edinburgh Fringe hit show The Listies that Make You LOL, timeless classics such as The Elves and the Shoemaker, and a range of family activities, including craft workshops, puppet making courses for adults, and hands-on puppetry sessions.
The festival demonstrates its commitment to puppet-making, by hosting a puppet design trainee, who are in turn given a platform to perform at the festival. This year’s trainee will b presenting their first show, The Tortoise and the Firefly – a fresh and imaginative take on African folk tales.
Little Angel Associate Director and curator of the Children’s Puppet Festival Oliver Hymans said: ‘The Little Angel Theatre’s Children’s Puppetry Festival is a true celebration of the incredible diversity of puppet theatre. From the delicate artistry of marionettes to the playful inventiveness of object theatre, alongside laugh-out-loud comedy and live music, the festival offers a magical experience for audiences of all ages. This year, we’re especially proud to support a new graduate show from our design trainee, brought to life with the guidance of the LAT creative team – showcasing the next generation of puppet makers and theatre designers.’