The Venue
Norwich Puppet Theatre was founded in 1979 by Ray and Joan DaSilva as a permanent base for their touring company and was first opened as a public venue in 1980, following the conversion of the medieval church of St. James in the heart of Norwich. Under subsequent artistic directors - Barry Smith and Luis Z. Boy - the theatre established its current pattern of operation. It is a nationally unique venue dedicated to puppetry, and currently houses a 185 seat raked auditorium, 50 seat Octagon Studio, workshops, an exhibition gallery, shop and licensed bar. It is the only theatre in the Eastern region with a year-round programme of family-centred entertainment.

What we do
As well as hosting a variety of touring puppetry companies from Britain and overseas, featuring the best of British and international theatre of animation for all ages, we present an ongoing programme of craft based workshops for children with special sessions for adults. We also work with schools in Norfolk and Suffolk providing workshops and talks here at the Theatre and in the schools themselves. Following the funding hiatus in 2008 the producing and touring of shows has been put on hold, but with new projects planned for 2009/10 Norwich Puppet Theatre will return to offering its own shows at the Theatre and on tour.