Our Global Majority Puppetry Intensive has begun!

Our Global Majority Puppetry Intensive has kicked off to a great start. Ten brilliant participants are learning from some of the industry’s best puppetry directors, designers and manipulators. 

This brand-new programme, produced by Fuel in partnership with Little Angel Theatre, and funded by Arts Council England, was initiated in direct response to the lack of diversity in the puppetry sector. With puppetry becoming ever more popular, with hugely successful shows from War Horse to Spirited Away and My Neighbour Totoro and many more besides, this vital programme offers training for Global Majority performers and is fast creating an exciting new creative community of puppeteers. Alongside this, Saturday masterclasses for young people have been successfully running in partnership with drama school Mountview. 

In a process led by Fred Davis, a group of 10 performers have already enjoyed workshops from Aya Nakamura, Rachael Nanyonjo, and Toby Olié, and the intensive will go on to feature workshops from Haruka Kuroda, Nick Barnes, Mervyn Millar, Tobi Poster-Su, and Little Angel’s Samantha Lane.  

Fred Davis, who is leading the programme, said: “It’s wonderful watching 10 people approach situations and problem solve them together through puppetry. We’re only a little way into the workshop and the changes people have gone through are vast. Everyone is sharing revelations they’ve had in the room or titbits they’ve picked up on the performing road, and it’s beautiful to see. One of my favourite things about the arts in general, but the puppetry world in particular, is seeing people supporting and championing each other. I can’t wait to see the growth of this group by the end of the course.” 

Kate McGrath, Artistic Director & CEO at Fuel, said: “Fred is an exceptional talent and it’s great to see him offering his expertise to others and holding a space for learning together, with the help of a brilliant roster of visiting workshop leaders. Learning is a core value for Fuel and we hope this Intensive will be of great benefit to the participants, the artists teaching on it, and ultimately the wider industry. In times of constrained resources, it’s vital to find ways to continue to invest in development for artists, especially where we can make a positive change in terms equity and inclusion in our sector. I can’t wait to see what they all do next with these new skills.” 

Participants in the course are Aki Nakagawa, Annakanako Mohri, Ashton Owen, Brian Maitland, Eric Mok, Feeya Asmal, Mei Alozie, Priya Uddin, Rianna Kellman, and Shaofan Wilson. 

Download the full story including biographies of the participants and Fred Davis here: Global Majority Puppetry Intensive Announcement