Dragon is a brand-new piece of innovative non-verbal puppetry theatre that introduces audiences to a vivid, complex and breath-taking world.
Presented by Alphabetti Theatre and Life & Limb Puppets, this epic adventure is set in an idyllic valley ringed by mountains that protect it from the world outside, where a young child is reluctant to be taught their hunting duties and comes to learn the price of living in paradise.
A non-verbal narrative blending fantasy, puppetry and digital animation with an original score, Dragon is an epic tale of a child coming to grips with authority, responsibility and the nature of their world. This thought-provoking adventure, suitable for adults and children, is an unforgettable experience that asks the question ‘what would you do if you were in their shoes?’.
Created by a cast and crew of locally grown and trained North-East performers, this cross discipline artform is inspired by world renowned puppetry company ‘The Last Great Hunt’ and realised with assistance from internationally renowned puppetry dramaturge Chloe Flockart (Farm, Spare Parts Puppet Theatre; Bambert Book of Lost Stories and In a Dark Dark Wood, Barking Gecko). This new story comes from the imagination of Life & Limb Puppets’ artistic director, William Steele.
Steele comments, Dragon pushes the boundaries of what a puppetry show can be, who it can reach and how. We were inspired by the great animation houses that can appeal to both young and old alike. As puppetry is predominantly a physical language which shares many similarities with miming, clown and animation we wanted to tell this complex story visually and without the need for language. This was a foundational concern to allows us to make this work more accessible to multiple audiences without fluency in English. It’s quite a challenge to tell a complex story with those constraints and only possible due to the incredibly talented team we have behind this project.
Dragon is produced with assistance from Alphabetti Theatre, Arts Council England, The Community Foundation, Sunday for Sammy, and the Curious School of Puppetry.
Dragon is at Alphabetti Theatre Tuesday 22nd February – Saturday 12th March 2022
