Routledge Theatre-Rites: Animating Puppets, Objects and Sites

Theatre-Rites are regarded as pioneers in the field of object-led and site-specific performance, creating ground-breaking work for family audiences since 1995. This book marks the company’s 25th anniversary, offering the first in-depth exploration of artistic director Sue Buckmaster’s visionary practice, in which anything can be animated. This book draws on original research, including five years of in-depth interviews between its authors, images from Theatre-Rites’ archive and Buckmaster’s private collection, detailed observations from the company’s professional training workshops and personal reflections on past productions. A timely and compelling advocacy for the importance of high-quality experimental arts provision for young audiences is made, distilling learning from decades of the company’s professional activities to motivate and empower the next generation of object-led theatre-makers. Theatre-Rites: Animating Puppets, Objects and Sites is an invaluable resource for any puppeteer, actor, dancer, visual artist, poet or student interested in expanding their understanding of how to incorporate puppetry and/or symbolic objects as metaphors in their work. Review 'This book promises to be a seminal work on the subversive art of puppetry and the essential work of theatre-making for children and families. The book explores the sophisticated thinking underpinning Sue Buckmaster’s approach and illuminates the mysteries of animating puppets and objects. Multiple insights and examples connect the theoretical with the practical processes of creativity, which are always guided by care and curiosity. It is indeed a "ceremonial object" as Theatre-Rites celebrates its 25th anniversary.' ―Elizabeth Lynch MBE, chair of Theatre-Rites 'A gift of a book. A celebration of 25 years of Theatre-Rites, one of the world’s most joyous and ingenious theatre companies, and a thought-provoking meditation on children, creativity and object-led theatre.' ―Lyn Gardner, theatre critic and associate editor of The Stage About the Author Liam Jarvis is a theatre-maker, director and practitioner–researcher. He is currently Co-Director of the Centre for Theatre Research (CTR) and a Senior Lecturer in Theatre in the Department of Literature, Film and Theatre Studies (LiFTS) at the University of Essex. Sue Buckmaster is the artistic director of Theatre-Rites and the fifth generation of theatre practitioners in her family. She has many years of experience as a director, puppetry specialist and teacher, and has worked with a wide variety of companies including the National Theatre, the Royal Shakespeare Company, Young Vic, Sadler’s Wells, Three Sixty Entertainment, Akram Khan Company and Complicité.