17 years ago Blind Summit started with two guys, one puppet and one story. There was no adult puppetry scene in the UK. There was no Lion King, Avenue Q or War Horse... no one wanted to do puppetry or to watch it! Since then we have created 30 productions, trained 100 artists and even directed the puppetry in the London 2012 Olympic Opening Ceremony. Our work is loved by audiences all over the world: last year our puppets were seen by over 330,000 people.
Reinventing this traditional art form requires continuous innovation and experimentation with making techniques, scripts, casting, and rehearsing...in fact every aspect of theatre making. Behind each puppet is a team of highly skilled, dedicated and hard working designers, makers and performers who work together for over a year to develop each show.
We are a charity and although we gratefully receive 20% of our income from Arts Council England, our future is not secure and we take nothing for granted. Ticket sales cover a further 20% of our costs so for each production we must raise the final 60%. We know it's a big task but Blind Summit is a small company that punches way above its weight. Our impact goes far beyond our productions - we have been central to the renaissance of puppetry as a serious art form in the UK.