Our outreach programme is an important aspect of our company, and we offer bespoke workshops to theatres, schools, universities, events and festivals – both live and online. We can cater for abilities and ages, including non-English speaking participants.

During the Covid 19 pandemic, we migrated our outreach programme online and released a series of workshops to do from home. We can also record additional/specific videos to your requirements on commission so please get in touch if you’d like to discuss this option. 

Puppetry weekend course for adults

Our next weekend puppetry course is on the 7th and 8th October in the centre of Bristol. For more information and to book a place, visit the Eventbrite page. 

This course is incredibly popular and places are first come first served. Please email us if you would like to be put on the mailing list to be the first to hear about future courses.

Participant feedback from Tessa Bide’s Introduction to Puppetry weekend course:

“Tessa’s workshop was informative, well-paced and very enjoyable! She encouraged participants to contribute creatively to the proceedings and there was a focus on skill-development which was useful, as I can implement these techniques into my own practises as a theatre-maker.”

“The course is really well designed, has a friendly and supportive atmosphere, helps build confidence.”

“It was a really great introduction to puppeteering. It was clear and fun and I learned a lot.”

“It laid out the basics of puppetry, looking at various types of puppets/ object manipulation, and how to work with people in close proximity. It’s a learning in the foundations of puppetry skills. I’d recommend to anyone wishing to learn as a beginner.”

“Lots of fun and I learned loads! Definitely gained lots of skills that I will now use in the work that I do.”

“Covered so much – a really good insight into the world of puppetry. Was really useful particularly in sharing knowledge and skills related to puppetry auditions.”

“The course introduced participants to the fundamentals of puppetry and laid the foundations for someone like me who intends to explore puppetry and object manipulation in the future through live performance.”

“It was varied BUT focused. It enabled exploration of the different types of puppets and allowed trial and error. It was definitely varied enough for a one day course and covered everything I hoped.”

“It was so varied that there was not a moment where I was not learning new things, non stop entertainment and education.”

“It was very well structured and feedback was constantly delivered”

100% of attendees would recommend it to a friend

100% of attendees would be interested in attending future courses.

Our trio of online Puppetry Workshops

Whether you’re a performer wanting to diversify your skills over lockdown, or a parent looking for rainy-day entertainment for your little ones, this trio of online workshops covers how to create, and manipulate, your very own puppet. Instructions are simple, step by step, and you can pause and come back to parts you missed again and again.

Basic puppet making with Tessa Bide.

This is a simple puppet-making workshop suitable for adults and children aged 7+ (younger children can partake, too, but must be supervised). Tessa Bide has been puppeteering for 10 years and has worked all over the world. She has worked and trained with various companies including Little Angel Theatre, Blind Summit (Olympic opening ceremony 2012) and Mervyn Miller – Puppetry Director of War Horse. The puppet in this tutorial can be made using just newspaper and masking tape, and should take about an hour depending on ability.

Introduction to puppetry and object manipulation with Tessa Bide

Tessa Bide Productions Presents a workshop introducing you to basic puppetry techniques. In this workshop, you will learn how to bring an inanimate object to life and how to make it talk. You will begin to learn how to move your body to facilitate the puppet. All you need is some old newspaper, a peg, and some objects found around the house. It is suitable for children aged

7+(younger children can partake, too, but will need supervision) and perfect for the playful adults in all of us!

Bunraku/table-top puppetry workshop with Tessa Bide

In this workshop, you will learn how to bring a human-shaped puppet to life in a group of 2 or 3, like traditional Japanese bunraku puppeteers. It is suitable for adults and children aged 7+ and you will need a tea towel and tea cup or small mug, and a puppet made in the first workshop in the series – make your own puppet.

We advise you to do some team building exercises together before starting this workshop. Exercises like flocking (instructions here: shorturl.at/fghLP) and mirroring, as well as traditional team-building theatre games.

To access all three workshops, buy a ticket from Eventbrite from as little as £9.