Review: The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, Little Angel Theatre

As the Little Angel Theatre‘s Children’s Puppet Festival closes for 2026, it concludes with an exciting and important piece of work. The Sorcerer’s Apprentice sees the theatre’s heritage marionette project manifested in a live performance by their very own apprentices.

This project, supported by the National Heritage Lottery Fund, is part of an endeavour to remove marionettes from a red list of endangered crafts. Led by director and designer Oliver Hymans, a team of six established puppeteers (Sam Baumal, Aimee Louise Bevan, Jasmine Chiu, Samuel Dutton, Josh Macrow, Aya Nakamura), who have never operated a marionette before, have trained to learn this complex art form in only a few weeks.

The show comes to the stage almost as a work in progress, but in doing so it exemplifies the wider process of curiosity and learning being secured. It’s not flawless, but is an amazing achievement given the ambition of the task. Even as it engages with risk, it is entirely enchanting, musically delightful and funny. The production speaks beyond a simple performance to articulate the intention and nature of the marionette art form, and resonates excitingly with it.

Aimed at children between the ages of six and eleven, the story explores what happens when a team of people sneak into a closed down theatre, revealing the magic within. We find ourselves at a stage within the stage, where the puppets exist and move seemingly without human contact. It’s genuinely magical as the illusion takes hold of you.

A beautiful boy marionette is the Sorcerer’s Apprentice, and he clumsily activates objects, getting himself into trouble as his beginner’s magic goes awry. Humorous and playfully imaginative, there is surprising trick puppetry that brings laughter and also moments of true beauty. The puppets defy gravity, floating in water or navigating flying books and animated brooms. There are occasional glitches, but these are quickly addressed by the apprentice team and weirdly make things more interesting: the incredible perception of life in the puppet is juxtaposed with the reality of human vulnerability.

Given their history, marionettes are sometimes thought of as old-fashioned puppets, but here they are most definitely 21st-century, full of colour and interesting movement that feeds in wonderfully to the project’s ideas of moving heritage and legacy forward. The Boy character is hand carved from wood by Jess Shead as a trainee, using traditional techniques. Painted in blues and purples, he has an almost iridescent, ethereal sheen. In conversation before the show, one of the puppeteers aptly described how the figure has a universal quality, not clearly of any specific heritage, in order to resonate with everyone, which is quite moving.

The show is beautifully designed by Hymans, with clean lines and shifting depths in the staging, and colourful lighting from Sherry Coenen that brings drama and texture to the scenes. Being non verbal makes the story accessible to a wide audience, and the action is accompanied by an exceptional musical score from Ian Oakley that drives the tale buoyantly along. It perfectly captures those ideas of time and heritage, paralleling the overarching project in a mix of intriguing flavours, which range from retro 60s styling, to a spot of prog rock, to electro pop.

This is an aesthetically lovely, joyful work, with visually captivating moments and an enjoyably playful vibe. Beyond this, it speaks succinctly to the intention of the heritage project, celebrating the unique ability that marionettes have to create a space where humans are both absent and present, unseen but active, therefore revealing truths about our living selves by interaction with extraordinary objects.

Director and Designer: Oliver Hymans

Festival Programme Manager: Marcelo Hart-Camus

Marionette Maker: Ash Appadu

Marionette Maker Trainee: Jess Shead

Marionette Maker Trainee: Mallika Joy

Marionette Tutors: Sue Dacre, Bori Mezo

Composer and Sound Designer: Ian Oakley

Lighting Designer: Sherry Coenen

Dramaturg/Writer: Laura Bradford

Scenic Artist and Production Assistant: Valerya Veronkina

The Sorcerer’s Apprentice is aimed at ages 6-11 years and plays at Little Angel Theatre until Sunday 30 August.

This project is supported by The National Lottery Heritage Fund, thanks to money raised by National Lottery players.