Handspring Puppet Company

Handspring Puppet Company was founded in 1981 in Cape Town, South Africa and has grown under the leadership of Artistic Director Adrian Kohler and Executive Producer Basil Jones over 40 years. Handspring’s work has been presented in more than 30 countries around the world. The company is widely recognised as South Africa’s pre-eminent puppet theatre company with work spanning four decades of creating theatre for adults and children. Handspring’s work has established its signature of artistic excellence through the use of finely crafted puppets within a live theatrical context. The marriage of the disciplines of Fine Art and Theatre is at the heart of the discipline of puppetry in general and Handspring’s work in particular. Their focus on breath and micromovement as the foundation upon which all puppet animation is based, is central to their philosophy. The runaway hit play War Horse, produced by the National Theatre, has established Handspring as one of the world’s most influential puppet companies.

Other recent work includes the 3.5m giant puppet of Little Amal. As a child refugee from Syria, she walked across Europe in 2022 and across the USA and into Mexico in 2023. Their other current production is Life & Times of Michael K, based on the novel by John Coetzee and directed by Lara Foot of The Baxter Theatre in Cape Town.

Handspring's War Horse is represented by Berlin Associates whilst other work is represented by Quarternaire (https://quaternaire.org/)