Kazbah Theatre is proud to be a part of the British Model Theatre and Puppet Guild, which is celebrating its 100th birthday this year. The Guild provides excellent networking opportunities for puppeteers and has proved a rich source of support and advice. Kazbah's Artistic Director, Andy Evans joined the Guild in 2023 and was soon followed by Kazbah founding member Samuel Pearson. In 2024, Andy was invited to join the Guild's Council and was elected during that year's AGM. He has since also joined the national committee of BrUNIMA
with responsibility to liaise between the two bodies.
The 2023 annual magazine The Puppet Master featured an article highlighting how Andy had set up Kazbah Theatre, with no real training or background in puppetry but loads of ideas and plenty of enthusiasm. The 2024 issue featured a profile of Samuel's work with Kazbah and others. Kazbah Theatre was invited to perform at the Puppet Guild's Spring Lunch in March 2024, but prior commitments meant that the company did not have time to rehearse a piece in time for the event and instead, they proved a hit as Salty and the Fish Fingers made an appearance though didn't perform. Their very presence made for a lot of interesting and colourful publicity and they featured in newsletters and across the Guild's social media.
Other performers who work with Kazbah have also joined the Guild, seasoned puppet builder and performer Cam Welsh is also a member. Another Kazbah performer, and one of the Guild's most recent recruits is Freya Young who is currently using puppetry to great effect at the University of Lincoln in her project work there.
For the Guild's Centenary Spring Lunch, Kazbah was once again invited to perform and Andy and Samuel chose to create a short performance piece that merged the work done on Cirque du Pierre, along with training Samuel had undergone with Puppet Box and also Theatre-Rites with Sue Buckmaster. A short piece entitled How Pierrot Came To Be was performed last weekend at the dinner and was very popular with attendees who enjoyed the bunraku-style puppetry employed.
This performance marked Kazbah's sole performance during early 2025, as AD Andy has had knee replacement surgery and is still in recovery. It is hoped that progress will be made over the coming months and Kazbah will re-emerge, stronger and more creative than ever with new and exciting ideas and productions. Meanwhile, the British Puppet Guild has a series of dazzling events to help them celebrate their centenary and details can be found on their website. Watch this space however, for more Kazbah news.
Andy Evans12 March 2025.
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