Puppet Theatre Barge
51°32′22″N 0°06′12″W / 51.5395°N 0.1032°W / 51.5395; -0.1032
The Puppet Theatre Barge is a unique, fifty-seat marionette theatre on a converted barge in London. The theatre presents puppet shows for children and adults and is moored in Little Venice throughout the year and in Richmond-upon-Thames during the summer.
The company produces shows taken from traditional children’s tales such as the Brer Rabbit stories, Aesop's Fables and original work featuring Punch, as well as drama by writers[1] such as William Shakespeare and Federico García Lorca, and has also commissioned original plays from contemporary published writers, such as Wendy Cope,[2] Howard Barker[3][4] and Finuala Dowling.
History
Gren Middleton and Juliet Rogers formed Movingstage Marionette Company in 1979. After a couple of years touring marionette shows, Middleton and Rogers bought an old 80 ft Thames lighter of riveted iron construction, built in the 1930s and converted it into a double-bridge string marionette theatre.
The Puppet Theatre Barge was opened to the public on 28 January 1982[5] at Camden Lock in north London. Its first performance was The Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner, by Samuel Taylor Coleridge.In 1988, the barge moved to the basin at Little Venice, near Paddington.
The first two summer tours, in 1982 and 1983, were undertaken up the Grand Union Canal, performing at Pitstone Wharf in Buckinghamshire, over the Tring summit. From 1984 until 2008 the barge toured every summer up the River Thames, performing daily shows as far upstream as Sandford-on-Thames, near Oxford. Over the years, the barge staged performances at Abingdon, Wallingford, Reading, Henley-upon-Thames, Marlow, Cliveden, Windsor and Walton-upon-Thames.
In 1995, Juliet Rogers designed News Bunny, the station mascot for the short-lived UK TV Station LIVE TV.
Since 2009, the barge has put on shows in Little Venice from October to June and spent the summer months, between mid-July and mid-October moored at Richmond-upon-Thames. Three generations of the Middleton family are involved in running the theatre.
In 2017, theatre critic Darren Luke Mawdsley visited the Puppet Theatre Barge to watch The Flight of Babuscha Baboon. He described his visit as, '...a pleasure; an example of the rich and diverse arts offering that our fabulous city has to offer.'
On 17 October 2020, the Puppet Theatre Barge received a grant of £52,352 from the Culture Recovery Fund to support a staged reopening following its closure during the Covid-19 Pandemic.[6]
Repertoire
- Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (1979)
- Bottom’s Dream (1980)
- The Birdman (1981)
- The Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner (1982)
- Brer Rabbit and the Tar Baby (1982)
- The Magic Box (1983)
- Thomas the Rhymer (1984)
- The Butterfly’s Spell (1985)
- The Tempest (1987)
- The Flight of Babuscha Baboon (1988)
- The River Girl (1989)
- Tales from Aesop (1990)
- A Shipful of Verse (1992)
- All He Fears (1993)
- The Picture Stick (1995)
- Red Riding Hood (1996)
- Brer Rabbit visits Africa (1997)
- Captain Grimey and the Three Little Pigs (1998)
- Macbeth (1999) Voice by Toby Stephens Music by Andrew Ranken
- Millennium Mischief – Joey’s Fireworks (2000)
- The Swing at Night (2001)
- Manfred (2002)
- The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse (2003)
- Out of the Heart of Darkness (2005)
- Footprints in the Wilderness (2008), inspired by Ian Player
- A Christmas Carol (2008)
- The Money Game (2011)
- Fowl Play (2013)
- End Games (2015), based on Finuala Dowling's poetry
- The Red Balloon (2022)
- The Hare and the Tortoise (2022)
- Hanging by a Thread by Di Filippo Marionette (2023)
- The Blue Pool of Questions (2023)
- The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse (2023)
References
- ^ Middleton, Gren, 1999, "Why promote text-based drama for live animation?", in Contemporary Theatre Review, volume 9, issue 4, p. 41, OPA ISBN 90-5755-008-3
- ^ Cope, Wendy, 1991, The River Girl, London: Faber and Faber Limited ISBN 0-571-16062-X
- ^ Barker, Howard, 1993, All He Fears, London: Calder Publications Ltd ISBN 0-7145-4235-0
- ^ Barker, Howard, 1995, "Dire la mélancolie, l'exprimer par le corps", in Puck, volume 8, p. 77-79, Institut International de la Marionnette
- ^ Allen, Keith & Shaw, Phyllida, 1992, On the Brink of Belonging: A national enquiry into puppetry, p. 77, London: Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation ISBN 978-0-903319-60-7
- ^ Lizzie Edmonds (17 October 2020). "Latest round of £1.57 billion Cultural Recovery Fund beneficiaries include Military Wives Choir". Evening Standard.
External links
- Official website: Puppet Barge
- Suspense London Puppetry Festival
- Patron: Michael Palin
- v
- t
- e
- Barnes
- Barnes Bridge
- Fulwell
- Hampton
- Hampton Wick
- Kew Gardens
- Mortlake
- North Sheen
- Richmond
- St Margarets
- Strawberry Hill
- Teddington
- Twickenham
- Whitton
and river services
- Beverley Brook
- River Crane
- Duke of Northumberland's River
- Longford River
- Sudbrook and Latchmere stream
- River Thames
- Athletic Ground, Richmond
- Barn Elms playing fields
- The Championship Course
- Cricket clubs and grounds
- Golf clubs and courses
- Hampton Pool
- The Lensbury
- Pools on the Park
- Royal Tennis Court, Hampton Court
- Teddington Pools and Fitness Centre
- Thames Young Mariners
- Twickenham Stadium
- Twickenham Stoop
- former Ranelagh Club
- former Richmond Ice Rink
- Britannia, Richmond
- The Bull's Head, Barnes
- The Crown, Twickenham
- Dysart Arms, Petersham
- The Fox, Twickenham
- The George, Twickenham
- Hare and Hounds, East Sheen
- Jolly Coopers, Hampton
- Old Ship, Richmond
- Park Hotel, Teddington
- Richmond Brewery Stores
- Sun Inn, Barnes
- Twickenham Fine Ales
- Watney Combe & Reid
- White Cross, Richmond
- The White Swan, Twickenham
and music venues
- The Bull's Head
- Crawdaddy Club
- The Exchange
- Olympic Studios
- Orange Tree Theatre
- OSO Arts Centre
- Puppet Theatre Barge
- Richmond Theatre
- TwickFolk
- Wathen Hall
- former Eel Pie Island Hotel
- former Richmond Theatre (1765–1884|
- Richmond and Twickenham Times
- former Gaydar Radio
- former Hogarth Press
of interest
- 123 Mortlake High Street
- 14 The Terrace, Barnes
- 18 Station Road, Barnes
- 70 Barnes High Street
- Asgill House
- Barnes power station
- Brinsworth House
- Bushy House
- Chapel House
- Chapel in the Wood
- Clarence House
- Doughty House
- Douglas House
- Downe House
- East Sheen Filling Station
- Fulwell bus garage
- Garrick's Temple to Shakespeare
- Garrick's Villa
- Grove House, Hampton
- Halford House
- Ham House
- Hampton Water Treatment Works
- Hampton Youth Project
- Harrods Furniture Depository
- Hogarth House
- The Homestead
- Hotham House
- Kew Mortuary
- King's Observatory
- Kneller Hall
- Langham House
- Langham House Close
- Latchmere House
- Lichfield Court
- Marble Hill House
- Montrose House
- National Physical Laboratory
- Normansfield Theatre
- The Old Court House
- Old Town Hall, Richmond
- Ormeley Lodge
- Parkleys
- The Pavilion
- Pembroke Lodge
- Pope's Grotto
- Poppy Factory
- Royal Military School of Music
- Royal Star and Garter Home
- St Leonard's Court
- Strawberry Hill House
- Stud House
- Sudbrook House and Park
- Thatched House Lodge
- University Boat Race Stones
- Victoria Working Men's Club
- West Hall
- White Lodge
- The Wick
- Wick House
- Yelverton Lodge
- York House
- former Admiralty Research Laboratory
- former Alcott House
- former Camp Griffiss
- former Cardigan House
- former Cross Deep House
- former The Karsino
- former Mortlake Tapestry Works
- former Mount Ararat
- former Pope's villa
- former Radnor House
- former Richmond House
- former Richmond Lodge
- former Richmond Theological College
- former Sheen Priory
- former Star and Garter Hotel
- former Twickenham Park
- Adana Printing Machines
- Ashe baronets
- Cook baronets of Doughty House
- Darell baronets, of Richmond Hill
- GHQ Liaison Regiment (Phantom)
- Hampton Court Conference
- Kew Letters
- Petersham Hole
- Pocock baronets
- Richmond Flyers
- Richmond, Petersham and Ham Open Spaces Act 1902
- Treaty of Hampton Court (1562)
- Vandeput baronets
- Warren-Lambert
- Wigan baronets
- Richmond Park
- Twickenham
- former Richmond and Barnes
- former Richmond (Surrey)