Green Ginger is a European theatre company based in

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...

, UK and Wiseppe, France that creates adult-oriented theatre and films featuring

puppetry Puppetry is a form of theatre or performance that involves the manipulation of puppets – wikt:inanimate, inanimate objects, often resembling some type of human or animal figure, that are animated or manipulated by a human called a puppeteer. S ...

. Founded by Terry Lee in 1978, the company regularly tours its theatre productions throughout the world. Green Ginger collaborates with major arts organisations, including

Welsh National Opera Welsh National Opera (WNO) () is an opera company based in Cardiff, Wales. WNO gave its first performances in 1946. The company began as a mainly amateur body and transformed into an all-professional ensemble by 1973. In its early days, the ...

and

Aardman Animations Aardman Animations Limited, known simply as Aardman, is a British animation studio based in Bristol, England, United Kingdom. It is known for films and television series made using stop motion and clay animation techniques, particularly those fe ...

and its members teach at

University of Bristol The University of Bristol is a public university, public research university in Bristol, England. It received its royal charter in 1909, although it can trace its roots to a Merchant Venturers' school founded in 1595 and University College, Br ...

Bath Spa University Bath Spa University is a public university in Bath, Somerset, Bath, England, with its main campus at Newton Park, about west of the centre of the city. The university has other campuses in the city of Bath, and one at Corsham Court in Wiltshi ...

and the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama. Green Ginger has two artistic directors: Terry Lee who oversees the production of short puppet films in the company's French base; whilst Chris Pirie is responsible for its production base in Bristol, UK. Film Director

Terry Gilliam Terrence Vance Gilliam ( ; born 22 November 1940) is an American-British filmmaker, comedian, collage film, collage animator, and actor. He gained stardom as a member of the Monty Python comedy troupe alongside John Cleese, Eric Idle, Michael Pa ...

became patron of Green Ginger in 2001. Productions A Television Show (1978), Mack the Giant Thriller (1980), The Last Resort (1981), The Story So Far; The Beginning (1984), The Story So Far; Before the Beginning (1986), Gaston le Gouache (1987), Madame Zero (1989), Frank Einstein; Born to be Wired (1993), Boris the Eurobot (1994), PRATs (1996), Slaphead; Demon Barber (1996), Gaston and Pedro (1998), Bambi - The Wilderness Years (2000), Frank Einstein – Rewired (2001), Rust (2005), Mac et le Geant (2007), Zelda (2009), Le Drame des Autres (2012), Lionel the Vinyl (2013), Outpost (2014), Petit'Tom (2016), Intronauts (2018), RATLab (2022). Intronauts (2018) was its 21st original production and marked the company's 40th anniversary. The touring show, directed by Emma Williams and with an original soundscore by composer Simon Preston, was inspired by cult 60s sci-fi movies and portrayed a dystopian future where those with disposable income could buy have miniaturised human cleaners injected into their bodies to carry out routine maintenance and healthcare. Collaborations In 2000, Green Ginger an
Amy Rose Projects
created puppetry solutions for

's new production of Tchaikovsky's Queen of Spades. The opera was subsequently performed in numerous European and North American cities between 2002 and 2023, with Green Ginger directing and performing the puppetry on each occasion. In 2016, Green Ginger provided design and movement consultancy during the creation of 4 metre-long mini-spiders for Arcadia Spectacular's Metamorphosis show. In 2023, Green Ginger's Chris Pirie performed Sparkman; an alien puppet musician from The Weirdos, during

Coldplay Coldplay are a British Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1997. They consist of vocalist and pianist Chris Martin, guitarist Jonny Buckland, bassist Guy Berryman, drummer and percussionist Will Champion, and manager Phil Harvey (band m ...

's Music of the Spheres World Tour.

References

{{Reflist *"Theatre: There's more to puppets than Sooty and Sweep" Dominic Cavendish in ''The Independent'', 28 Oct 1998 *''New Welsh Review'', No. 49, p. 70 *Lyn Gardner in ''The Guardian'', 28 Feb 2001 *''BRUNIMA Bulletin'' (The Journal of British UNIMA) 107, July 2001 *''Dreams: The Terry Gilliam Fanzine'
Gilliam the Snake Charmer , Terry Gilliam - Dreams Fanzine
Gilliam interview with Chris Pirie, May 2002

External links

Green Ginger web site
Puppet troupes 1978 establishments in England Puppetry in the United Kingdom