Moving Parts, the second Newcastle Puppetry Festival, will run from 6 to 14 April.
A unique biennial performance and training event produced by Moving Parts Arts, focusing on puppetry, mask performances, stop-motion animation, and object manipulation, the Festival features all-day and evening events for children, families and adults. It will take place in cultural venues across the Newcastle, including Alphabetti Theatre, Dance City, Space Six and Seven Stories.
It begins with a spectacular opening weekend of free large-scale puppetry performances on Northumberland Street on 6 and 7 April. Other free events for families include the Puppetry for Children Day at Ouseburn Farm on Saturday 13 April, with ticketed shows at Seven Stories.
The full programme includes UK theatrical premières, international performances, films, live music for adults and children and interactive masterclasses and workshops from Greece, Germany, and The Netherlands.
The first Festival in 2017 was recognised as Best Newcomer in the Journal Culture Awards for 2018.
Talking about new developments in this, the second Festival, Kerrin Tatman, Artistic Director and Co-Founder, said, “we are particularly excited for the three main stage shows at Dance City, which allow for a much larger audience to experience quality adult puppetry. Noone’s Land by Merlin Puppet Theatre is a non-verbal heart-warming tale about a scarecrow all the way from Germany, The Seed Carriers by Stephen Mottram is a dark and skillful marionette piece and Coulrophobia by Pickled Image is a hilarious comedy show featuring clowns, disappointing nudity and puppetry.”