‘I think that they’ve inspired many other people as well, I think when you’re inspiring people it’s almost like saving people sometimes. They have probably over the years saved a lot of people’.
This wonderful quote comes at the end of a short documentary about the Puppet Theatre Barge. It is a heartfelt tribute to the founders of this most unusual of theatres Juliet Rogers and Grenville Middleton:
Here, necessity really was the mother of invention. Finding any kind of permanent property unaffordable, they chanced upon the inspired idea of converting an old Thames lighter barge and converting it into a 55 seat performance space.
Their dream of a puppet theatre was finally afloat!
Now, for almost 50 years it has inspired a generation of children and bought out the child in all of us
Perhaps it is something to do with being on the river, descending the stairs into a boat, that frees the imagination. Perhaps it is the combination of the sophisticated puppetry, with the child-like innocence of the performance. Or perhaps it is the way they make a virtue of the limited stage space that again adds another dimension to their creativity.
But let’s not question – let’s just enjoy the magic!
