Terrapin Puppet Theatre
- Organisation
Established for over 35 years, Terrapin Puppet Theatre is the centre of excellence for contemporary puppetry in Australia, creating puppetry-based performances for all ages.
Terrapin Puppet Theatre makes contemporary puppetry for young audiences, touring nationally and internationally. It creates work for theatres and interactive installations for public spaces, telling sophisticated stories of humour and pathos and embracing new technologies inspired by the age-old craft of puppetry.
Terrapin designs its productions to tour and presents to diverse audiences locally and globally. Many of its works are designed so they can be presented in languages other than English through the engagement of local artists wherever the work is presented.
The company’s work has been presented by the Edinburgh International Children’s Festival, Art Space For Kids (Shanghai), The Walton Arts Centre, Vancouver International Children’s Festival, Taipei Children’s Art Festival, Festival De Betovering (The Netherlands), Belfast International Children’s Festival, Lincoln Center (New York), Sydney Opera House, Melbourne International Arts Festival and Dark Mofo amongst many others. In 2017, the company presented a bespoke version of its interactive installation I Think I Can at the Royal Shakespeare Company at Stratford-upon-Avon.
In 2018 Terrapin will perform to over 19,000 Tasmanian school students, touring their premiere production of A Not So Traditional Story by Palawa writer Nathan Maynard around the state. You and Me and The Space Between tours China, presented by premier presenter Art Space for Kids, followed by a Japan tour presented as part of the Australian Government’s Australia Now program.
The Spider and The Fly premiered in June, in a work made especially for Tasmania’s Dark Mofo festival. Red Racing Hood hits the road in New South Wales and Victoria, followed by a tour to Hong Kong. In addition, Terrapin return to Amman, Jordan, for a co-production with The Haya Cultural Centre, supported by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade through the Council for Arab Australian Relations.
