“Some of the UK’s leading professional puppetry theatre companies” will perform at the Smethwick Puppetry Festival, which will take place during schools’ half-term in February.
Organiser Black Country Touring promises puppet theatre specially for children and families, performances for teens and adults and interactive puppetry workshops.
Highlights include the world première of The Stuff of Life by The Object Project, a puppetry show for grown-ups that “takes a breathless exploration of the day-to-day, angst-ridden experience of living and loving”. Based in Leeds, The Object Project is known for its “contemporary theatre and puppetry that is unconventional and anarchic”.
Younger visitors can enjoy a wide range of performances, including a reimagining of The Nutcracker by Lori Hopkins, Nutcracker in Spring. Hopeful Monster Theatre will present Bori Mezo’s The Giant Who Slept for 10,000 Years, while Swallow’s Wings Puppetry will conjure up sunshine in the West African tale Anansi and the Lost Sun.
Laura Leech from Black Country Touring said, “the first Smethwick Puppetry Festival took place in February 2024. Many shows sold out. I’m really pleased we’re running the festival again in 2025, with a bigger programme and even more opportunities for people in Smethwick and Bearwood to experience top-notch puppetry and theatre.”
Smethwick Puppetry Festival will take place in community venues including Smethwick Heritage Centre, Dorothy Parkes Centre, Bearwood Community Hub at Bearwood Baptist Church, Brasshouse Community Centre, Brushstrokes Community Project, Lightwoods Park and House, Smethwick Library, Thimblemill Library, West Smethwick Park, Bear Bookshop and St Hilda's Church Hall. It will run from Saturday 15 until Sunday 23 February. All events will be either free or pay what you can.
Further details are available at the Black Country Touring web site.