Toronto School of Puppetry

Dedicated to building and strengthening puppetry culture through sharing skills and techniques.  Supporting the development of new work by emerging and established artists. For people from all walks of the arts who are interested in learning about and integrating puppetry into their artistic practice. 

 Our studio is wheelchair accessible – please call for assistance.

PROGRAM FOR ADULT LEARNERS

Fall 2024

Ontario Arts Council Recommender Grants for Theatre Creators – Apply through us for beginning projects with a puppetry component.  Application deadline is midnight on October 28th, 2024. Please note that we do not accept scripts.

THE PERFECTLY PROFESSIONAL PUPPETRY EXPERIENCE – A MOUTH PUPPETRY INTENSIVE – From construction to manipulation all the way to crafting a camera-ready performance. Mike Petersen will lead an animation workshop on Monday November 25th from 5:00 to 9:00 p.m., then Kanja Chen will teach mouth puppet construction from Tuesday November 26th through Friday 29th,  from 5:00 to 9:00 p.m., and to finish up Kanja Chen will run a workshop on puppetry for camera from 10 am to 4 pm on Saturday November 30th, at Puppetmongers Studio, Toronto. Click here for details 

$625 CDN for the course plus $65 for materials = total $690                                        If you are interested in this course, please email Kanja at                 puppetguy-2001@yahoo.com

WINTER & SPRING 2025

PXL (Puppetry eXploratory Laboratory)  If you have a puppetry project  you’d like to explore with other artists, or if you would like to explore a puppetry project with others, this is a production program that pairs people-with-an-idea-for-a-puppetry-project with people-who-want-to-work-on-a-puppetry-project.  These works are mentored by the Puppetmongers Ann and David from February through late May, with each team setting their own work schedule.  The program starts in mid-February, and runs until the Fresh Ideas in Puppetry Festival in late May.  Click here for more details and application forms  Please apply by January 31st, 2025. 

Weekend classes will include an Intermediate Marionette Course, plus an array of weekend classes on many aspects of puppet theatre, will be offered, some in-person and some online, with our brilliant puppetry artist partners. TBA in the new year.

Fresh Ideas in Puppetry 2025  This event will be held May 30 online and June 1, at a location TBA.  This two-day international conference and festival, with one day online and one day in-person, features both presentations of works-in-progress and new-works by people experimenting with puppetry.  We invite pitches for short presentations online and in-person at this event. The proposal deadline is March 24th.

Puppetry Intensive Course 2025  The two-week Puppetry Intensive Course will be June 16th through 27th.  An overall introduction to many aspects of puppet theatre production, for people interested in learning, experimenting and practicing puppetry.  There is no formal application process to register, so please send us a bit about yourself and your interest in puppetry.

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Contact us at school@puppetmongers.com   416-469-3555

With the support of

Ontario Trillium Foundation logo - Portage   And our many generous private donors

In the spirit of reconciliation, respect and truth, we acknowledge and honour that Puppetmongers Theatre is located on the traditional territory of many nations including the Mississaugas of the Credit, the Anishnabeg, the Chippewa, the Haudenosaunee and the Wendat people, and is now home to many diverse First Nations, Inuit and Metis peoples.  We also acknowledge that Toronto is covered by Treaty 13 with the Mississaugas of the Credit.  We are deeply grateful to the original caretakers of this land, recorded and unrecorded.  We recognize our settler privilege, and acknowledge our shared history, and continue to work to understand our role and responsibilities as Treaty People.

Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Accessibility. We are committed to policies and practices that support the purposeful inclusion of all people. We work to ensure our programming is relevant, sensitive and reflective of the populations we serve.