Puppet Theatre Barge - Little Venice

The Puppet Theatre Barge began its life not as a theater, but as a decaying, hollowed-out Thames lighter built in the nineteen twenties. Founders Gren Middleton and Juliet Rogers rescued the eighty-foot-long vessel from a scrap heap, envisioning a permanent home for their touring marionette company. They were offered the iron hull for free on the strict condition that they handle all the renovation work themselves. Over months of intensive labor, they transformed the industrial craft into a fifty-seat auditorium, complete with a specialized stage designed specifically for the mechanics of string-led performance.