Welcome...

to Dynamics 09 International Puppet Festival
England’s largest celebration of the art of puppetry

Once again PuppetLink brings to the West Midlands some of the finest UK and international puppeteers, coming to a venue near you! Throughout the spring and summer, with 18 different shows on offer in more than 30 locations, you’ll find something to entertain and enchant all ages.

This year we are featuring shows from Hungary, Belgium and Germany, as well as the Anglo-Portuguese show, Tempestade, created by PuppetLink in collaboration with S.A.Marionetas from Portugal and premiered in 2008 at international festivals of glass in both Stourbridge in the West Midlands and Marinha Grande in Portugal. So we have puppets of wood, of paper, of recycled junk and even of glass, telling stories in booths, on shadow screens, on elaborately designed puppet stages, both indoors and out.

There is always room for Punch & Judy in a Dynamics Festival, featuring that great icon of British culture, Mr Punch! This year he has a special place within in our regional museums where he is appearing in the Carry On Punch & Judy touring exhibition (see exhibition page). Here you can discover his history – how he travelled here from foreign lands and how many ‘cousins’ he has in other cultures, how Punch & Judy is performed today and in the past and where his inspiration reaches.

Our annual Puppet Extravaganza – a day packed full of shows indoors and out – will take place this year at the Newhampton Arts Centre in Wolverhampton – see the Extravaganza pages for all you can see for £1! We are also pleased to be revisiting many locations such as Sanders Park in Bromsgrove and the Museum of Cannock Chase, as well as programming with regional touring circuits, local authorities and all kinds of venues – not always theatres – throughout the West Midlands.

In addition to thanking our programming partners we would like to thank our funders and supporters. Arts Council England West Midlands have continued their generous support to the festival, alongside the welcome funding from our local authority, Worcestershire County Council. Special thanks go to Hagley Catholic High School, a specialist arts school that provides a base from which PuppetLink can work to make the Dynamics Festival - and other PuppetLink projects - possible.

See you at a show soon!

Sally Rew, Producer
Clive Chandler, Artistic Director