Buxton Puppet Festival
One of Buxton’s most popular events, the Buxton Puppet Festival, presented by Buxton Opera House, in conjunction with Funny Wonders, returns from Monday 28 July to Saturday 2 August. The sixth annual Puppet Festival features puppet performances and workshops for all ages at the Opera House, The Paupers Pit and around the town.
In the Opera House, there are performances by two puppet favourites. Presto Puppet Theatre return with their colourful retelling of Aladdin (coupled with the ever-popular Puppet Parade), while Lempen Puppet Theatre present their latest touching fable, Journey of Turtle.
On Friday 1 August, Funny Wonders Young People’s Company present The Silk Road, the culmination of a project that has been taking place for over a year. In 2007, the company travelled to Sapporo, Japan to collaborate with young people at Yamabiko-Za Children’s Theatre – an experience which has inspired this production and much more besides.
In the Paupers Pit Theatre at the Old Hall Hotel, there is a daily programme of puppet shows, including, for younger children, Objects Dart with Little Red Riding Hood and Salt; Diddley Dee Puppets with Jack and the Beanstalk and Rabbits to the Rescue; Idolrich theatreRotto with Crik the Croc and Octopi Puppet Theatre with Lost Boys. For older audiences, there is Thingumajig Theatre with Want and Raventales with a shadow puppet retelling of Beowulf. The Buxton Community School Studio is the venue for Anarupa with Durga and Rouge 28 with Urashima Taro, while the Old Clubhouse plays host to About Face Theatre with The Red Dress.
There are two unique events outdoors in the Pavilion Gardens – Fantastical Forest Woodland Walk and Round The World Safari; free street theatre events; scratch and cabaret nights and an array of workshops for children. There is also an evening with Japanese puppet master Nori Sawa and an introduction to the traditional puppetry of India from Ms Anarupa Roy, a prolific Indian puppeteer, workshop facilitator and lecturer.
See What’s On section for further details.