“The Curious School of Puppetry is my favourite school among all the schools I’ve been part of so far. It’s not a school full of bureaucracy but rather a place filled with real warm-hearted talented human beings with a shared passion and a strong commitment to building a community where people can learn from each other - not only in puppetry but also in life. I love it and I’m incredibly grateful to be part of it.” - Student testimony
Curious 2025 ran as an eight-week intensive puppetry course from 13 January – 8 March 2025 at St Barnabas Dalston. We welcomed 16 students from 5 countries (including China, Netherlands and USA) and from a wide range of backgrounds: designers, jobbing performers and theatre-makers. The programme was taught by 20 tutors, including new voices in the team such as Uzma Hameed, John Wright and Fred Davis.
2025’s international cohort was: Alex Young, Apple Ding, Aqiong Zhang, Bartolomeo Bartolini, Bryony McCombie Smith, Danny Higgins, Haylin Cai, Lee Maeda, Lenke Duyvendak, Mima Beauchamp, Nick Duan, Nico Venables, Rachel Wansker, Roos Buskes, Saya Naruse, Zoe Grain.
“[Curious] has really restored my faith in the creative industry, that there is hope, that we can still build communities, love and care for one another, and make art that will hopefully make the world a better place.”
- Student testimony
“One of the best things I really liked was working with actual working professionals in the industry right now! I feel a lot of other courses (or university courses) have tutors that were perhaps working 20 years ago and haven’t seen any theatre since but It makes [Curious] feel very current and that you are being treated like an equal and have a shared common language and reference points.” - Student testimony
“One of the most valuable things about Curious was the networking opportunity. Soup Nights are such invaluable places to meet people from the industry, a really fundamental weekly event.” - Student testimony
Our weekly Soup Nights offered a warm blend of nourishment and inspiration across seven Thursday evenings during the course hosted by the students. Each week, a leading practitioner - including Sarah Wright; David Lan and Danielle Hassanali; Basil Twist, Mervyn Millar and Tracy Waller; Phelim McDermott; Seb Mayer; Wils Wilson; and Vicki Mortimer - shared insights into their artistic practice through talks, slideshows, demonstrations, and films, followed by an informal Q&A with the audience.
The series created a welcoming space for exchange and community building, drawing an average of 60 visitors each week, and has become a much-loved highlight of the School’s programme.