Extreme Puppetry Workshops
Extreme Puppetry Workshops
Blind Summit is one of the world’s leading puppet based theatre companies, led by Artistic Director Mark Down.
We have been making puppet based work at all scales, from a puppet on a table, to giant puppets in the Olympic Opening Ceremony in London, to last year’s sell out show The Sex Lives of Puppets.
Our specialty is working with teams of puppeteers, using an improvisational technique to create highly realistic, characterful performances.
Our workshops give you a chance to learn some of this technique, practise your skills, design puppets, and start making theatre!
"It exceeded my expectations"
"I rediscovered my creativity"
Participants Puppetry Toolkit Workshop
March 25
NEXT WORKSHOPS...
Monday 6 - Friday 10 October 2025
THE PUPPETRY TOOLKIT - 5 DAYS
Make a three person puppet and bring it to life in a week!
Everything you need to get started in puppetry - you will make a characterful puppet, learn techniques to bring it to life, and devise a small performance. You will get an introduction to Blind Summit’s “extreme puppetry” technique which is an improvisational, multi-puppeteer performance style that underpins all of their work.
2 days puppet making when you will:
Make a puppet for operating by three puppeteers
Learn how to make simple joints that move in a realistic way
Create a head full of character from newspaper/ cardboard and tape
Play with costume and hair to give the puppet a performance “role”
3 days puppet improvising and devising when you will:
Learn how to bring your puppets to life
Learn how to work through three puppeteer improvisation to devise short scenes
Learn about interpretings puppet movement and dramaturgical principles of the puppet-puppeteer relationship
Make a short presentation
WHEN?
Monday 06 - Friday 10 October 2025
10am - 6pm every day
WHERE?
Central London. Location tbc
WHAT DOES IT COST?
£500 for the whole week payable in advance
(£450 early-bird discount if you book by June 30)
Blind Summit’s “extreme puppetry” technique is an improvisational, multi-puppeteer performance style that underpins all of their work. In this 3 day course we will revise basic puppetry principles and apply them to more advanced 3 person improvisation. This workshop is suitable for people wanting to explore more deeply their puppetry technique.
You will learn:
How to bring your puppets to life on your own
How three puppeteers can work on one puppet through improvisation
How to lead and follow with different parts of the puppet
How to interpret puppet movement and communicate clearly with the audience
Dramaturgical principles of the puppet-puppeteer relationship
Improvising in Genre
WHEN?
TBC - Spring 2026
10am - 6pm every day
WHERE?
Central London. Location tbc
WHAT DOES IT COST?
£350 for the 3 days, payable in advance
(£300 with early-bird booking discount)
HOW TO BOOK
The workshop is open to everyone. If you would like to join us, please email charli@blindsummit.com with a little bit of information about yourself (CV) and why you would like to take part (max 200 words).
We will get back to you as soon as we can.
Please keep in mind that the spaces are limited. We look forward to hearing from you.
Charli x