Puppetry direction by Oliver James Hymans

A participatory project for Blind Summit Theatre
Presented for Circus Fest 2011 at The Camden Roundhouse, London.

For the acclaimed-puppet innovators ‘Blind Summit’, Oliver led a 10-week education programme with young participants (aged between 16 and 25) from the Taking Part education department of the Roundhouse in Camden. Inspired by the now-banned performing animals from the travelling circus, the group designed and brought to life large-scale puppets, in and around the spaces of the Roundhouse. The final sharing day, which was part of the Circus Fest 2011 programme, invited the public to interact and experience these battered and bruised characters face-to-face.

The designs incorporated simple materials of cardboard, wood and paper and used the Blind Summit’s signature elements of contemporary Bunraku puppetry to animate the creations.