Little Angel Theatre has announced it has been awarded a £38,400 grant from the Wolfson Foundation to create a new workshop dedicated to puppetry training and education.
The new street facing space will act as a hub for artists to design and build Little Angel’s acclaimed productions, while providing a flagship facility for puppetry training. It will host a year long Puppet Design Traineeship and offer at least six weeks of marionette training annually, supporting the preservation and revival of a heritage craft recently listed as endangered.
Window displays will offer the public a behind the scenes view of the puppet design process, with seasonal family activities and events for adults planned throughout the year.
Artistic Director Samantha Lane and Executive Director Peta Swindall said:
“We are delighted to have received funding from the Wolfson Foundation. The new space, led by Little Angel’s Associate Director, Oliver Hymans, will enable us to improve the quality of training and education facilities at Little Angel Theatre, transforming an underused retail unit into a fully equipped Workshop.
It will enable us to better engage with audiences providing a visible, creative space with curated public events. This will improve our future sustainability by enabling us to expand our growing commissions portfolio and generate earned income through bench hire, courses, and design services. It will also enable us to dedicate much needed time and resources to marionette making, contributing to the conservation and revitalisation of an endangered heritage craft.”
Associate Director Oliver Hymans added:
“We’re incredibly excited that this funding allows us to actively train and support the next generation of puppet makers, safeguarding marionette making as a form of living heritage which is at real risk of dying out. It also enables us to build an industry leading design studio for commissioned puppetry, establishing us as the go to place for clients across theatre, film, television and live experiences.”
The grant arrives as Little Angel celebrates its 65th anniversary year, which includes productions such as Toto the Ninja Cat and the Great Snake Escape, I Want My Hat Back, The Flying Bath, The Everywhere Bear and a UK tour of A Squash and a Squeeze.
Listings and ticket information can be found here
