"The superb Blind Summit Theatre..." The Wall Street Journal
Blind Summit Theatre was founded in 1997 by Nick Barnes and Mark Down to make new plays with puppets for adult audiences.
Our work aims to challenge people's attitudes to puppetry. Our puppets are modern and our shows tackle contemporary issues that concern us. We are inspired by Philippe Genty, Handspring Theatre, The Wooster Group, the Sex Pistols.
At a time when theatre is so under threat from the proliferation of new media, we think that puppetry is one of the areas which offers a unique live experience for audiences.
We see puppetry as a radical part of the reinvention of theatre in our time.
Puppets - Collaborators - Secret Methods - Training
Blind Summit were BAC supported Artists for 2003/ 2004
Junction Supported Artists 2005
Current
LOW LIFE
(2005)
Currently on National and International Tour
Timeout Critics' Choice
"Mad, bad and beautiful in equal measure" - The Guardian ****
information -
pictures - reviews -
dates
MADAM BUTTERFLY
(2005)
ENO, London - May 2006
Lithuanian National Opera - March 2006.
New York Metropolitan Opera - September 2006.
OLIVIER AWARD for Best New Opera in 2005
"Mr Minghella’s finest touch is to turn the child of Butterfly
and Pinkerton into a Bunraku puppet" - The Wall Street Journal
information - pictures - reviews - dates
THE SPACEMAN (2003,
2004, 2005)
West Yorkshire Playhouse June 2006, German Premiere in Cologne August 2006
Timeout Critic’s Choice
“Five best things to do in London this week” - Metro
“A must for all budding astronauts” Evening Standard
Past
MARTIN'S WEDDING
(2004)
London International Mime Festival at BAC.
"I sat bolt upright in my seat when Martin tried to get away
from his puppeteers" - Natalie Querol, State of Play
PIRATE PUPPETRY
(2003, 2004)
Hit of BAC Octoberfest 2003, Freetime at Somerset House 2004. Available to
book.
"They're manipulative little bastards. Don't trust them!"
Spokesperson, Wandsworth Puppet Patrol
A PUPPET IN THE WORKS
(2004)
A production with Young People's Theatre at BAC.
CHEREVICHKI
(2004)
Garsington. Director Olivia Fuchs. Puppetry Blind Summit.
"...puppets execute the magic" The Daily Telegraph
MR CHINA'S SON
(1997, 2002, 2003)
Diorama Arts Centre, The Pleasance Theatre, London and BAC
“A remarkable evening… thrillingly unconventional…”
– Timeout, Feb 2002
“I loved it when a tiny, bad tempered Chairman Mao arrived in Hampstead
in a parcel from China.” - What’s On
information - pictures - reviews
TRAMPING THE BOARDS
(1999)
London and Tour.
Other stuff: Blind Summit has performed sketches for DNA cabaret, BAC scratch nights, Nick Treadwell Gallery, Puppet into Performance Conference including The Armchair Warmonger, Professor Blastov’s Lecture on Parties, Famous People Are Always Smaller Than You Expect
