The full line-up of events has been revealed for the 2024 Nottingham Puppet Festival, a “celebration of puppets and people”.
This will be the third time the city-wide, community-focused festival has been held. Every corner of the city will be filled with puppetry performances from local, national and international artists, with small and large-scale puppetry also taking to the streets.
One of the highlights will be a city-centre day produced by venue City Arts. There will be “puppetry and processions of all scales”: free street theatre, shows, music and marvellous sights and sounds will link Sneinton Market to Old Market Square, all the way to the new Central Library. Two 12ft puppets will perform a battle between good and evil in Ancient Giants on Saturday 13 April.
Alison Denholm, creative development manager at City Arts, said, “puppets are everywhere. Having been around for over 5,000 years they’re still with us in TV, film, stage, video games, theme parks and more. Why? Because puppets are so good at telling stories about what it is to be human.”
The festival is a partnership between the Theatre Royal and Royal Concert Hall and City Arts. Other venues taking part include Lakeside Arts, Broadway Cinema, Squire Performing Arts Centre, New Art Exchange and Nottingham city libraries and community centres.
As part of the festival’s commitment to supporting local artists, three bursaries have been awarded to Nottingham-based theatre makers. Meander, a theatre company of learning disabled and autistic creatives, will showcase a performance that uses puppetry to explore experiences of bullying.
Artists Bryony McCombie Smith and Liz Johnson are developing short-form puppet cabaret acts. In the lead-up to the festival Bristol-based puppet-maker Cat Rock will work with Nottingham community groups to build a “walkabout” puppet. Cantrell Primary School pupils, the Nottingham Rebels Theatre Group and participants from the Hubb Neighbourhood Centre in Sneinton will work with the artist to design this new puppet.
The festival will run from Tuesday 9 until Sunday 21 April. Further details are available at the Nottingham Puppet Festival web site.