Nick Barnes

NICK BARNES studied drama at Hull University and theatre design at the Slade School of Fine Art and soon after began incorporating puppets into his designs for opera and theatre, nationally and internationally. Until recently he was joint artistic director of the puppetry company Blind Summit Theatre, which he co-founded. With Blind Summit Nick designed puppets for Madame Butterfly (ENO, Metropolitan Opera, Anthony Minghella), A Dog's Heart (ENO/DNO), Shunkin and Master and Margarita (Complicite, Simon McBurney), El Gato Con Botas (Tectonic Theatre, Moises Kaufman), On Emotion (Soho Theatre, Mick Gordon), Faeries (Royal Opera House, Will Tuckett), His Dark Materials (Birmingham Rep/WYP, Rachel Kavanagh). In 2012, he co-directed the puppetry in Danny Boyle's spectacular opening ceremony for the London Olympic Games. He now runs Nick Barnes Puppets, designing and making puppets for productions across the UK and abroad. Recent projects include co-design for The Lorax (Old Vic, London, Toronto, San Diego and Minneapolis) and Ariodante (Festival d'Aix-en-Provence, DNO), Associate Designer for Running Wild (Chichester Festival Theatre/Regents Park), co-direction and design of a new adaptation of David Walliams' children's book The First Hippo on the Moon (Les Enfants Terribles, UK Tour), design and direction Mr. Popper's Penguin's (Pins & Needles/Kenny Wax Ltd, West End/Broadway, Texas & Seattle), and The Little Beasts (The Other Palace, London). Nick has also designed a spectacular Firebird and a giant Gnome for the BBC Ten Pieces Proms (Royal Albert Hall) and most recently he designed and directed the puppetry for The Jungle Book (Royal & Derngate, Northampton), and Beauty & the Beast (Chichester Festival Theatre).