Harlequin Award winner 2023
Sarah Wright
Sarah Wright has lived with puppetry all of her life. The daughter of John and Lyndie Wright, founders of The Little Angel Theatre, she began working backstage in the theatre and as a puppeteer at a very early age. She performs with a range of puppets including glove and rod, but also remains loyal to the marionette which she continues to incorporate both in her own productions with her own company and in the training offered through the Curious School of Puppetry, which she founded. The Curious School of Puppetry was formed for those with an interest in operating and producing work with puppets.
The school through its training offers a physical understanding of technique, craft and design. professional puppeteers and directors provide high quality training and nurture students as they discover and develop their own skills including those of the marionette. ‘My dream,’ Sarah says, ‘would be to get back on to the marionette bridge at the Little Angel with some of the people I’ve trained.’
In the summer of 2023 Sarah performed marionettes at the Minack Theatre in Cornwall performing with the cast of Calvino Nights. Critically acclaimed by all that reviewed it, Sarah noted that it wasn’t without its challenges performing marionettes in an open air theatre on the ridge of a cliff; ‘They are quite hard to manipulate in the wind!’.
Through her own skills in marionette manipulation and her dedication to the development of excellence in puppetry performance in Britain, we were delighted to award The Harlequin Award to Sarah Wright.