Audiences were invited to explore the secrets of a very unusual bank; stepping inside to discover something wasn’t quite right in this extraordinary world of money. On this interactive journey they met some bemused bank customers and together they searched for the elusive Bank Manager. 

An exciting site‐specific, promenade experience for children aged 5 plus and their accompanying adults. This production was fun, beautiful, and thought provoking; exploring resources that money can and cannot buy.  

Commissioned by the Barbican, Create London, Warwick Arts Centre and the Economics Department at the University of Warwick, Bank On It was performed in London and Coventry in 2013. 

Inspired by light, this production saw five puppeteer-performers play in the darkness before being thrust into the spotlight.  Using puppetry, mime and dance Lighten Up was an intriguing production that radiated with energy, vibrancy and playfulness. 

Lighten Up was performed at Unicorn Theatre, London in 2008. 

A 30-minute storytelling performance which wove some familiar and not-so-familiar stories into a magical experience.  

Inspired by wondrous tales from around the globe that playfully look at identity and our place within the world, Tangled Tales toured to schools and libraries in the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham. 

Installed in the magnificent Mischanlage building, part of the Zollverein Kokerei; a UNESCO World Heritage site, Paradise invited audiences of 60 adults and children to experience an epic journey through 12 chambers, where each step led to a new discovery. 

Paradise was performed as part of the Ruhrtriennale Festival, Germany in 2010. 

How big is a million? Is there a man in the moon? What colour is music? Can I touch Light?

A child’s curiosity is endless, and asking questions is often more important than finding the answer. The Thought that Counts was a playful and enchanting celebration for 4–7 year olds of how we learn through play. Taking its inspiration from the notion that a genius is someone who, like children, keeps asking questions, the show created a magical world using theatre, dance, animated shapes, puppetry and video.

Performances at The Barbican (2005) and UK / International tour (2007).

What happens when a beatboxer, a singer and a puppeteer arrive on stage, but nothing is ready?  No set, no instruments, no puppets. No rules. 

Come and watch as they create a world full of joy and chaos, where objects come to life and everything is possible.    

Big Up! celebrates the power of music, the power of play and the power of our imagination. A perfect show for little people who want to be Big, and Big people who …  just might have forgotten how to play.    

The show was created in 2019 in collaboration with 20 Stories High, It was developed through research with young adult parents, young carers and their children, from working class and culturally diverse backgrounds.  

After a successful UK tour in 2019, Big Up! was due to tour again from April 2020 with original cast members Clarke Joseph Edwards, Dorcas Sebuyange joined by Grace Savage and Teele Uustani. Unfortunately, the tour had to be cancelled at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. 

An intimate performance inspired by the fairy tales and paper cut-outs of Hans Christian Andersen, accompanied by an exhibition at the British Library. 

As loose pages flew from a pile of old leather books, three performers created whole worlds out of paper, conjuring tin soldiers and ugly ducklings and exploring how stories let our imagination take flight. 

Performances at The British Library in 2005. 

Zoe, a modern millennial girl, is getting ready for a night out. But suddenly, something very peculiar happens and she is catapulted a hundred years into the future to a mysterious island.

The island, made entirely of plastic waste, is home to two strange and wonderful creatures. What has happened? Zoe doesn’t have time to think before her real adventures begin.  Sent on a quest by an Ancient Spirit, she sets off to explore – solving riddles and helping new friends out of trouble, all the while searching for a mysterious deep-sea treasure. And only then can she find her way home.

Zoe premiered at the BurgTheater in Vienna in 2021.

After its premiere and run at the Burgtheater Vienna in 2021/22, we brought Zoe home and toured the show across the UK and Norway. Venues included: Southbank Centre, Theatre Royal Plymouth, Kilden Teater (Kristiansand, Norway), Polka Theatre and Lakeside Arts Nottingham.

Zoe loves meeting up with her friends, but one day as she’s getting ready, something very peculiar happens… 

Catapulted one hundred years into the future, Zoe finds herself on a mysterious island made entirely of plastic waste. She doesn’t have time to think before her real adventures begin and she sets off to explore, solving riddles, meeting wonderful creatures, and helping new friends out of trouble. 

Will she find her way home? Join us in this magical tale exploring themes of friendship and the environment, featuring Theatre-Rites’ award-winning puppetry. 

There was a Signed performance at every UK venue. 

Zoe’s Peculiar Journey Through Time was originally a Theatre-Rites and Burgtheater Vienna co-production

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ECOLOGI

A child with a wild imagination. A child who gives no-one time to breathe. ‘Let’s make a house!’ A whirlwind of ideas. ‘Not like that! Like this!’ Will the house get built? The adults huff and puff to keep up. A windswept journey into the world of play, where home-made dens and hidey-holes reveal intriguing secrets.

Catch Your Breath took a magical look at how children define their sense of space – their dependence and independence. It was inspired by the hidden hidey-holes which children create and explored how young children learn to play together. Catch Your Breath mixed puppetry, gentle performance and choreographed objects and images, creating a world in which the imagination took flight.

This was the first co-production the company had undertaken for a touring show and performed in the UK and Japan in 2002 and 2004.

“Theatre-Rites is one of those companies that, in recent years, have transformed children’s theatre and produced shows for the under-fives that are as challenging and theatrically inventive as any of the best work produced by leading groups”

The Guardian