In 1978 I set up Horse & Bamboo Theatre in order to make new theatre and performance work. The company was a visual theatre company, using masks, music and puppetry to create stories for the stage. Between 1975 and 1977, I had worked with Welfare State International, and wanted to develop various aspects of the work they were doing, in particular to create theatre productions for and with local communities, and to reach rural audiences.
Between 1978 and 2018 (when I left the company), Horse & Bamboo worked broadly within this framework. Over 40 years the work inevitably expanded and developed in various ways, but the basic elements of the company’s work were:
HORSE-DRAWN TOURING
MOTORISED TOURING
LARGE-SCALE EVENTS
COMMUNITY PROJECTS
Follow these links to discover more about the work of Horse & Bamboo Theatre.
In 2026 the Victoria & Albert Museum took over 30 Horse & Bamboo posters, masks, costumes and other items to be part of their National Theatre Collection.