Voices in Motion: Emerging Puppeteers at the BrUNIMA AGM
A showcase of original, experimental work from MA Puppetry students at Wimbledon College of Arts - 30 June, Puppet Place
This year’s BrUNIMA event and AGM is not only a moment to reflect and reconnect — it’s also a window into the future of puppetry. We're thrilled to welcome a group of emerging artists from the MA Puppetry course at Wimbledon College of Arts, University of the Arts London (UAL), to share their work live at Puppet Place, Bristol, on 30 June.
MA Puppetry is led by theatre-maker, writer, performer and lecturer Tobi Poster-Su, whose practice bridges traditional techniques and cutting-edge critical theory. Under Tobi’s guidance, students explore the deep intersections of craft, performance, and storytelling — producing work that is as thoughtful as it is bold.
Whether they’re conjuring space dogs, shadowy mushrooms, or poetic love stories in foam and thread, these students are redefining what puppetry can be. Below, we spotlight their work, their voices, and their visions.
Meet the future of puppetry at the BrUNIMA AGM
Puppet Place, Bristol – 30 June
Don’t miss this opportunity to see bold new voices sharing their work with the BrUNIMA community.
Edd Berridge
MA Puppetry, Wimbledon College of Arts
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After six years teaching performing arts in FE and HE, Edd returned to study to refine their skills as both puppeteer and maker. Their creative practice bridges the whimsical and the uncanny, exploring transformation, memory, and connection through physical craft.
Sharing: Morning After – A short table top piece where a wandering woodling wakes mid-transformation. It’s a meditation on change, environmental unease, and the odd echoes of encounter.
Past work includes building skeletal crow spirits for immersive EDM festivals, puppet-making for Winnie-The-Pooh at Brighton Open Air Theatre, and creating an octogenarian acrobat who dances to Whitney Houston.
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Robin Belcher
MA Puppetry, Wimbledon College of Arts
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Robin is a passionate maker-performer whose work blends themes of queerness, grief, and space exploration. With roots in set design and backstage tech, they’ve recently stepped into the spotlight to explore more intimate and emotionally rich forms of storytelling.
Sharing: Laika in Space – A poetic retelling of the true story of Laika, the first dog in space. Robin’s version imagines her not alone, but accompanied in her final journey — creating a deeply human piece about companionship, loss, and what we choose to remember.
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Izzy Jiang
MA Puppetry, Wimbledon College of Arts
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Izzy’s interdisciplinary practice fuses lighting design, 3D visuals, and puppetry. Her work is richly atmospheric and visually detailed, often transforming narrative into dynamic sensory experiences.
Recent projects include: Lighting design for The Last Emperor at October Gallery, and performance in Awakening Alice at Little Angel Theatre. Izzy brings technical precision and emotional depth to her creative process.
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Jeanzia Guan
MA Puppetry, Wimbledon College of Arts
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Jeanzia is a cross-media storyteller with a background in film directing. Her puppetry pieces often mix poetic visual metaphors with theatrical performance, examining love, identity, and emotional control through powerful object imagery.
Sharing: A playful, whimsical new piece exploring the sensation of falling in love — layered with her signature approach to cinematic structure, symbolic performance, and hybrid puppet-body forms.
Her past work includes Ashes of Eternity, The Chain, and WOODENBOX, a post-apocalyptic immersive puppet film experience. She also helps run the class Instagram: @wca_puppetry_ma
Riya Li
MA Puppetry, Wimbledon College of Arts
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Riya creates dreamlike puppetry where identity, costume, and movement merge. Her work is richly visual and rooted in speculative storytelling, often featuring transforming forms and experimental puppet mechanics.
Sharing: Dark fables and strange cabarets — including Where No Mermaids Go, a transforming mermaid tale, and Mushroom Kingdom, a surreal shadow puppet journey of revenge and absurdity.
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Yunshu Jiang
MA Puppetry, Wimbledon College of Arts
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Yunshu Jiang is a stage and puppetry designer working between China and the UK. She is currently studying MA Puppetry at the University of the Arts London. Her previous work includes stage designs for puppet theatre productions with Wuyue Children’s Theatre in China, such as Clack Clack Repair Shop and Welcome to the Convenience Store. She has also created a cabaret performance featuring a Chinese bride puppet in a horror style, exploring the tragic fate of women under patriarchal systems.
Sharing: Two works:
Mushroom Kingdom – a shadow puppetry piece created in collaboration with Ruier Li, telling the revenge story of a small mushroom.
No One Left – a short puppet comedy made with Izzy, in which a malfunctioning elevator triggers a chain of absurd and unexpected events.
About the Course
MA Puppetry at Wimbledon College of Arts is a 15-month full-time programme that pushes the boundaries of puppet performance. The course blends theory, design, fabrication, performance, and dramaturgy — offering students professional-grade experience with ethical, sustainable creative practices.
For more on the course and how to apply:
Meet the future of puppetry at the BrUNIMA AGM
Puppet Place, Bristol – 30 June
Don’t miss this opportunity to see bold new voices sharing their work with the BrUNIMA community.