Mark Down is Artistic Director of Blind Summit Theatre which he co-founded with Nick Barnes in 1997. Before forming Blind Summit he worked as a performer with companies such as London Bubble, Cardboard Citizens, Stanley Hall Opera, Treadwell Gallery, Wireframe, Dynamic New Animation, Theatre Rites, Globe Players, Midsummer Actors, Economical Truth, Turning Point TC and had various roles on TV and commercials including Eastenders and Granada Breeze. He also did occasional stand up comedy.

For Blind Summit Mark  writes, directs, designs and performs. His work in theatre includes Peter and the Wolf with the LA Phil at the Hollywood Bowl, 1984 (Battersea Arts Centre), Angus, Thongs and Even More Snogging (West Yorkshire Playhouse), His Dark Materials (Birmingham Rep and West Yorkshire Playhouse), Shun-kin (Complicite, Setagaya Theatre Tokyo, Barbican)and Greenland (National Theatre). In opera he has directed Le Rossignol at the Bregenz Festival, and was puppetry designer and director for The Magic Flute (Bregenz Festival), El Gato Con Botas (Broadway: Gotham Chamber Opera, Tectonic Theatre Project) and Kommilitonen! (Royal Academy of Music and Julliard, New York). He has collaborated with choreographers such as Will Tuckett in Faeries (ROH2) and Akram Khan in The Vertical Road. He has also directed and performed puppetry for TV including Holy Flying Circus and Professor Branestawm both for the BBC. He has written, directed and performed in over 45 productions.

Mark teaches puppetry technique at all the major London drama schools. In 2022 he published A Practical Guide to Puppetry which sets out how to learn Blind Summit’s unique “extreme puppetry style”. It is on sale worldwide.

His most recent shows The Sex Lives of Puppets, What to Do in a Puppet Emergency and The Law Of Gravity (with The Scottish Ensemble) are currently touring.

Mark Down is Artistic Director of Blind Summit Theatre which he co-founded with Nick Barnes in 1997. Before forming Blind Summit he worked as a performer with companies such as London Bubble, Cardboard Citizens, Stanley Hall Opera, Treadwell Gallery, Wireframe, Dynamic New Animation, Theatre Rites, Globe Players, Midsummer Actors, Economical Truth, Turning Point TC and had various roles on TV and commercials including Eastenders and Granada Breeze. He also did occasional stand up comedy.

For Blind Summit Mark  writes, directs, designs and performs. His work in theatre includes Peter and the Wolf with the LA Phil at the Hollywood Bowl, 1984 (Battersea Arts Centre), Angus, Thongs and Even More Snogging (West Yorkshire Playhouse), His Dark Materials (Birmingham Rep and West Yorkshire Playhouse), Shun-kin (Complicite, Setagaya Theatre Tokyo, Barbican)and Greenland (National Theatre). In opera he has directed Le Rossignol at the Bregenz Festival, and was puppetry designer and director for The Magic Flute (Bregenz Festival), El Gato Con Botas (Broadway: Gotham Chamber Opera, Tectonic Theatre Project) and Kommilitonen! (Royal Academy of Music and Julliard, New York). He has collaborated with choreographers such as Will Tuckett in Faeries (ROH2) and Akram Khan in The Vertical Road. He has also directed and performed puppetry for TV including Holy Flying Circus and Professor Branestawm both for the BBC. He has written, directed and performed in over 45 productions.

Mark teaches puppetry technique at all the major London drama schools. In 2022 he published A Practical Guide to Puppetry which sets out how to learn Blind Summit’s unique “extreme puppetry style”. It is on sale worldwide.

His most recent shows The Sex Lives of Puppets, What to Do in a Puppet Emergency and The Law Of Gravity (with The Scottish Ensemble) are currently touring.

Irishman Ben Keaton is a writer, director and teacher. In the past, he has been a multi-award-winning actor with an Olivier Nomination and a Perrier Award and three Manchester Evening News awards under his belt. He has acted in TV—Father Ted, Casualty (regular cast) the film East is East and played the lead in countless theatre productions including Cyrano De Bergerac, Animal Crackers, Harvey, The Odd Couple and American Buffalo in the regions and the West End.  He has written six series for the BBC and Channel 4. He has directed corporate videos, short films, and documentaries. He has collaborated with circus performers, comedians, dancers, and puppet companies, most recently as co director and writer of The Sex Lives of Puppets for Mark Down and Blind Summit Theatre. He is the founder of the charity The Creativity Academy, which is dedicated to bringing the creative process to young children in the deprived area of East Lindsey, Lincolnshire. At the age of six, he won the book Mr. Man and His New Red Van at a school prize-giving. He has been a writer ever since. His work is rhythmical, comic, and fearless—a distinctive voice in constant search of adventure.

Mark Down is Artistic Director of Blind Summit Theatre which he co-founded with Nick Barnes in 1997. Before forming Blind Summit he worked as a performer with companies such as London Bubble, Cardboard Citizens, Stanley Hall Opera, Treadwell Gallery, Wireframe, Dynamic New Animation, Theatre Rites, Globe Players, Midsummer Actors, Economical Truth, Turning Point TC and had various roles on TV and commercials including Eastenders and Granada Breeze. He also did occasional stand up comedy.

For Blind Summit Mark  writes, directs, designs and performs. His work in theatre includes Peter and the Wolf with the LA Phil at the Hollywood Bowl, 1984 (Battersea Arts Centre), Angus, Thongs and Even More Snogging (West Yorkshire Playhouse), His Dark Materials (Birmingham Rep and West Yorkshire Playhouse), Shun-kin (Complicite, Setagaya Theatre Tokyo, Barbican)and Greenland (National Theatre). In opera he has directed Le Rossignol at the Bregenz Festival, and was puppetry designer and director for The Magic Flute (Bregenz Festival), El Gato Con Botas (Broadway: Gotham Chamber Opera, Tectonic Theatre Project) and Kommilitonen! (Royal Academy of Music and Julliard, New York). He has collaborated with choreographers such as Will Tuckett in Faeries (ROH2) and Akram Khan in The Vertical Road. He has also directed and performed puppetry for TV including Holy Flying Circus and Professor Branestawm both for the BBC. He has written, directed and performed in over 45 productions.

Mark teaches puppetry technique at all the major London drama schools. In 2022 he published A Practical Guide to Puppetry which sets out how to learn Blind Summit’s unique “extreme puppetry style”. It is on sale worldwide.

His most recent shows The Sex Lives of Puppets, What to Do in a Puppet Emergency and The Law Of Gravity (with The Scottish Ensemble) are currently touring.

Irishman Ben Keaton is a writer, director and teacher. In the past, he has been a multi-award-winning actor with an Olivier Nomination and a Perrier Award and three Manchester Evening News awards under his belt. He has acted in TV—Father Ted, Casualty (regular cast) the film East is East and played the lead in countless theatre productions including Cyrano De Bergerac, Animal Crackers, Harvey, The Odd Couple and American Buffalo in the regions and the West End.  He has written six series for the BBC and Channel 4. He has directed corporate videos, short films, and documentaries. He has collaborated with circus performers, comedians, dancers, and puppet companies, most recently as co director and writer of The Sex Lives of Puppets for Mark Down and Blind Summit Theatre. He is the founder of the charity The Creativity Academy, which is dedicated to bringing the creative process to young children in the deprived area of East Lindsey, Lincolnshire. At the age of six, he won the book Mr. Man and His New Red Van at a school prize-giving. He has been a writer ever since. His work is rhythmical, comic, and fearless—a distinctive voice in constant search of adventure.

James McKenzie is a freelance lighting designer working across all art forms and genres with a particular love of dance, opera and highly visual theatre.His designs have been seen across the UK and Internationally and he enjoys collaborating and creating on the smallest to largest of productions.
He  believes strongly in working collaboratively with the whole creative team from early on in the process to create a cohesive and meaningful design.

Alongside his lighting work James McKenzie is the Artistic Director of award winning Zoo Venues at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, where he programmes a range of companies specialising in Dance and Physical Theatre.

Mark Down is Artistic Director of Blind Summit Theatre which he co-founded with Nick Barnes in 1997. Before forming Blind Summit he worked as a performer with companies such as London Bubble, Cardboard Citizens, Stanley Hall Opera, Treadwell Gallery, Wireframe, Dynamic New Animation, Theatre Rites, Globe Players, Midsummer Actors, Economical Truth, Turning Point TC and had various roles on TV and commercials including Eastenders and Granada Breeze. He also did occasional stand up comedy.

For Blind Summit Mark  writes, directs, designs and performs. His work in theatre includes Peter and the Wolf with the LA Phil at the Hollywood Bowl, 1984 (Battersea Arts Centre), Angus, Thongs and Even More Snogging (West Yorkshire Playhouse), His Dark Materials (Birmingham Rep and West Yorkshire Playhouse), Shun-kin (Complicite, Setagaya Theatre Tokyo, Barbican)and Greenland (National Theatre). In opera he has directed Le Rossignol at the Bregenz Festival, and was puppetry designer and director for The Magic Flute (Bregenz Festival), El Gato Con Botas (Broadway: Gotham Chamber Opera, Tectonic Theatre Project) and Kommilitonen! (Royal Academy of Music and Julliard, New York). He has collaborated with choreographers such as Will Tuckett in Faeries (ROH2) and Akram Khan in The Vertical Road. He has also directed and performed puppetry for TV including Holy Flying Circus and Professor Branestawm both for the BBC. He has written, directed and performed in over 45 productions.

Mark teaches puppetry technique at all the major London drama schools. In 2022 he published A Practical Guide to Puppetry which sets out how to learn Blind Summit’s unique “extreme puppetry style”. It is on sale worldwide.

His most recent shows The Sex Lives of Puppets, What to Do in a Puppet Emergency and The Law Of Gravity (with The Scottish Ensemble) are currently touring.

Mark Down is Artistic Director of Blind Summit Theatre which he co-founded with Nick Barnes in 1997. Before forming Blind Summit he worked as a performer with companies such as London Bubble, Cardboard Citizens, Stanley Hall Opera, Treadwell Gallery, Wireframe, Dynamic New Animation, Theatre Rites, Globe Players, Midsummer Actors, Economical Truth, Turning Point TC and had various roles on TV and commercials including Eastenders and Granada Breeze. He also did occasional stand up comedy.

For Blind Summit Mark  writes, directs, designs and performs. His work in theatre includes Peter and the Wolf with the LA Phil at the Hollywood Bowl, 1984 (Battersea Arts Centre), Angus, Thongs and Even More Snogging (West Yorkshire Playhouse), His Dark Materials (Birmingham Rep and West Yorkshire Playhouse), Shun-kin (Complicite, Setagaya Theatre Tokyo, Barbican)and Greenland (National Theatre). In opera he has directed Le Rossignol at the Bregenz Festival, and was puppetry designer and director for The Magic Flute (Bregenz Festival), El Gato Con Botas (Broadway: Gotham Chamber Opera, Tectonic Theatre Project) and Kommilitonen! (Royal Academy of Music and Julliard, New York). He has collaborated with choreographers such as Will Tuckett in Faeries (ROH2) and Akram Khan in The Vertical Road. He has also directed and performed puppetry for TV including Holy Flying Circus and Professor Branestawm both for the BBC. He has written, directed and performed in over 45 productions.

Mark teaches puppetry technique at all the major London drama schools. In 2022 he published A Practical Guide to Puppetry which sets out how to learn Blind Summit’s unique “extreme puppetry style”. It is on sale worldwide.

His most recent shows The Sex Lives of Puppets, What to Do in a Puppet Emergency and The Law Of Gravity (with The Scottish Ensemble) are currently touring.

Russell Dean is Artistic Director of Strangeface Theatre Company. His roles include planning and communicating the Artistic Vision of the company, designing and making the masks and puppets, running residencies and workshops

Russell studied at Aberystwyth University where he gained a first class degree in Drama. He worked as a freelance designer/maker and facilitator for Trestle Theatre Company, Welsh National Opera, Theatre Company Blah Blah Blah amongst many others.

Russell has been a writer, director, designer/maker, performer, project manager and facilitator on 9 productions and hundreds of workshops for Strangeface since 2001.

During this time he has also developed a reputation for being one of the country’s leading mask makers. He designs and makes commissions and box sets of masks for schools, groups and other artists such as Vamos, Bootworks and Mick Barnfather.

Helen is a freelance designer, maker and director of puppetry for theatre and live performance. She trained at East 15 Acting School where she studied on the Contemporary Theatre and Acting BA (Hons). During her training she was introduced to puppetry performance by Stephan Mottram and subsequently began designing, making and directing puppetry for third year productions. It was at East 15 that she met long term collaborator and puppetry mentor Sean Garratt. After graduating, Helen worked as a puppeteer in children’s theatre.

Helen started working as a puppet maker with Blind Summit Theatre Company in 2011 where she created puppets for Le Rossignol at the Bregenz International Opera Festival and Citizen Puppet at the Edinburgh festival (fringe first award winner 2015)

Nick Barnes is an innovative and experienced puppetry designer and maker who has been working in theatre for over 25 years.

Fiona Clift has been working with and for Blind Summit for over ten years. She is a puppet designer, puppeteer, and character comedian. Her work with Blind Summit includes assistant director on 1984, performer in Olympics, The Table, Citizen Puppet, Henry, The Magic Flute, designer and performer in The Little Match Girl, Le Rossignol, and Peter and the Wolf.

She was a founder member of Teatro En Villo. She performs character comedy on the stand up circuit and works part time as administrator at Blind Summit.

Natasha Burns is a puppet maker working for Blind Summit.

Rachel Salenius is a puppet maker working with Blind Summit.

Charlina Lucas is a trained stage and costume designer (University Mozarteum Salzburg in Austria). She began working with Blind Summit in February 2017 as a puppet maker and has since contributed to numerous freelance projects with the company.

Since 2022, Charlina has been a regular member of the Blind Summit team, working as an administrator and taking on a range of roles such as designer, company manager, and show operator. She has been involved in the development of The Sex Lives of Puppets since the initial puppeteer auditions in May 2022.

Mark Down is Artistic Director of Blind Summit Theatre which he co-founded with Nick Barnes in 1997. Before forming Blind Summit he worked as a performer with companies such as London Bubble, Cardboard Citizens, Stanley Hall Opera, Treadwell Gallery, Wireframe, Dynamic New Animation, Theatre Rites, Globe Players, Midsummer Actors, Economical Truth, Turning Point TC and had various roles on TV and commercials including Eastenders and Granada Breeze. He also did occasional stand up comedy.

For Blind Summit Mark  writes, directs, designs and performs. His work in theatre includes Peter and the Wolf with the LA Phil at the Hollywood Bowl, 1984 (Battersea Arts Centre), Angus, Thongs and Even More Snogging (West Yorkshire Playhouse), His Dark Materials (Birmingham Rep and West Yorkshire Playhouse), Shun-kin (Complicite, Setagaya Theatre Tokyo, Barbican)and Greenland (National Theatre). In opera he has directed Le Rossignol at the Bregenz Festival, and was puppetry designer and director for The Magic Flute (Bregenz Festival), El Gato Con Botas (Broadway: Gotham Chamber Opera, Tectonic Theatre Project) and Kommilitonen! (Royal Academy of Music and Julliard, New York). He has collaborated with choreographers such as Will Tuckett in Faeries (ROH2) and Akram Khan in The Vertical Road. He has also directed and performed puppetry for TV including Holy Flying Circus and Professor Branestawm both for the BBC. He has written, directed and performed in over 45 productions.

Mark teaches puppetry technique at all the major London drama schools. In 2022 he published A Practical Guide to Puppetry which sets out how to learn Blind Summit’s unique “extreme puppetry style”. It is on sale worldwide.

His most recent shows The Sex Lives of Puppets, What to Do in a Puppet Emergency and The Law Of Gravity (with The Scottish Ensemble) are currently touring.

Charlina Lucas is a trained stage and costume designer (University Mozarteum Salzburg in Austria). She began working with Blind Summit in February 2017 as a puppet maker and has since contributed to numerous freelance projects with the company.

Since 2022, Charlina has been a regular member of the Blind Summit team, working as an administrator and taking on a range of roles such as designer, company manager, and show operator. She has been involved in the development of The Sex Lives of Puppets since the initial puppeteer auditions in May 2022.

Fergus Carver is a freelance musician, technician and sound designer living and working in London. He studied music at Durham University specialising in electronic music composition and has worked extensively in theatre ever since, across all departments, specialising in sound. He has worked in technical management since 2021 and most recently has held the position of deputy technical manager at Southwark Playhouse, where he has managed teams of freelancers, run get ins, get outs, seating turnarounds and oversaw many productions.

He first worked with Blind Summit in January 2024, helping install the show at Southwark Playhouse. Similarly when the show returned to London in September 2024 he worked on the show again, managing the production period from the venue and helping with programming and rigging. Fergus is a regular at the Edinburgh fringe, working with all major venues and as an operator, lighting designer, sound designer and performer. Upcoming projects include sound designing fishing 4 chip’s production of It’s Gonna Blow (Pleasance Edinburgh 2025), lighting programming and operating for Josie Long: Now is the time of Monsters (Pleasance Edinburgh 2025) and a production of The Trials at Southwark Playhouse at the end of August.

Mark Down is Artistic Director of Blind Summit Theatre which he co-founded with Nick Barnes in 1997. Before forming Blind Summit he worked as a performer with companies such as London Bubble, Cardboard Citizens, Stanley Hall Opera, Treadwell Gallery, Wireframe, Dynamic New Animation, Theatre Rites, Globe Players, Midsummer Actors, Economical Truth, Turning Point TC and had various roles on TV and commercials including Eastenders and Granada Breeze. He also did occasional stand up comedy.

For Blind Summit Mark  writes, directs, designs and performs. His work in theatre includes Peter and the Wolf with the LA Phil at the Hollywood Bowl, 1984 (Battersea Arts Centre), Angus, Thongs and Even More Snogging (West Yorkshire Playhouse), His Dark Materials (Birmingham Rep and West Yorkshire Playhouse), Shun-kin (Complicite, Setagaya Theatre Tokyo, Barbican)and Greenland (National Theatre). In opera he has directed Le Rossignol at the Bregenz Festival, and was puppetry designer and director for The Magic Flute (Bregenz Festival), El Gato Con Botas (Broadway: Gotham Chamber Opera, Tectonic Theatre Project) and Kommilitonen! (Royal Academy of Music and Julliard, New York). He has collaborated with choreographers such as Will Tuckett in Faeries (ROH2) and Akram Khan in The Vertical Road. He has also directed and performed puppetry for TV including Holy Flying Circus and Professor Branestawm both for the BBC. He has written, directed and performed in over 45 productions.

Mark teaches puppetry technique at all the major London drama schools. In 2022 he published A Practical Guide to Puppetry which sets out how to learn Blind Summit’s unique “extreme puppetry style”. It is on sale worldwide.

His most recent shows The Sex Lives of Puppets, What to Do in a Puppet Emergency and The Law Of Gravity (with The Scottish Ensemble) are currently touring.

Isobel Griffiths is an actor, puppeteer and theatre-maker from Bristol. She trained at Rose Bruford College and graduated in 2021. Isobel has been working and devising with Blind Summit since 2023.

Theatre credits include: The Sex Lives Of Puppets (Southwark Playhouse, Edinburgh Fringe) and A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Antic Disposition).

In training: Boudica (The Unicorn Theatre) and [BLANK] (Rose Bruford College).

Film/TV credits include: The Fence (Red Anchor Films) and Dust (UWE Film).

Dale Wylde is a teacher, director and performer. He trained at East 15 (BA Hons Physical Theatre) and has since worked with many diverse pedagogs, directors and artists. These include David Glass ( The David Glass Ensemble) Briony O’Callaghan (Created a Monster) Matej Matejka (Grotowski institute, Studio Matejka, Poland) Marie-Gabrielle Rotie; Mark Down (Blind Summit Theatre) Saga Kobayashi, Minoru Hidoshi and Matsuko Tanaka,(Hijikata Memorial Museum, Otsuki, Japan)

Dale Wylde is an associate artist with Flabbergast theatre, Created a Monster and The David Glass Ensemble.

He was an associate director for Flabbergast Theatre’s Macbeth which was nominated for two offie awards, one of which was for his performance, and was recently the puppetry director for David Glass’s original show Galapagos.

As a teacher Dale has facilitated workshops, for both children and adults, for some of the most accredited institutes in the country including most recently for EDUQAS, where he  facilitated workshops for secondary school teachers all around the UK.

Dale Wylde‘s work brings together a broad range of influences from mask, mime and puppetry to his work in poor theatre, butoh and commedia del arte.

Elliot Liburd graduated from Kent University and then trained at The Fourth Monkey.

Recent theatre credits include: Alice in Wonderland (Marylebone Theatre); The Lost Lending Library (Punch Drunk); The Commotion Time (Exeter Northcott Theatre); The Instrumentalists (The Southbank Centre). He also played Jay Gatsby in The Immersive Great Gatsby in London’s West End (2023).

Other credits include Les Enfants Terribles’ Sherlock Holmes: An Online Adventure (2021).

Television credits include The Third Day: Autumn for Punch Drunk and Sky TV (2020).