Puppetry.

Phoebe Hyder is a multidisciplinary puppeteer and maker working across theatre, film, and television. She began her puppetry career as a volunteer at Little Angel Theatre, where she went on to perform and assistant direct on a range of productions, developing skills across traditional and contemporary forms.

Her practice spans tabletop, mouth flap, shadow/OHP, object manipulation, large-scale, three-person, and VFX-integrated puppetry, with a particular focus on emotionally grounded performance and tactile design.

In 2021, Phoebe’s short film Perspectives, created using an OHP projector, was selected for Tunbridge Wells Puppetry Festival, where it won the Rising Puppetry Talent Award. She went on to train in puppet design and constructionwith master maker Nick Barnes, and now designs and fabricates puppets for Chichester Festival Theatre’s outreach and community programmes.

Alongside her theatre work, Phoebe is part of the Creature Effects (CFX) teams behind major screen productions, contributing puppetry performance and practical effects to projects with DreamWorks, Warner Bros., and Lucan Fit Productions. Her experience in high-end film and television feeds directly into her live work — bringing cinematic texture, physical precision, and visual flair to the stage.

Moon River marks her debut solo show — a culmination of her multi-platform practice, blending handmade puppetry, movement, and cutting-edge XR technologies in a visually immersive, wordless performance.

Past Puppeteering Projects:

  • Jurassic Worl: Rebirth
    CFX Puppeteer

  • How to train your dragon
    Previs Pupeteer

  • TBA Lucas Film, Dysney
    CFX Puppeteer

  • Dragons and Mythical Beasts
    (OlivIER Nomination)

  • His dark Materials, bbc/HBO

  • Midsummer Nights Dream, Norwich Puppet Theatre

  • FunnyBones, The Lowry

  • The Lips UK Tour, Puppets with Guts

  • Gnomus, Finn Caldwell, Puppets with Guts

  • Perspectives, Tunbridgewells Puppetry Festival
    (Online)

  • The Prism, Les Enfants Terribles
    (Online theatre experience)

  • Jess/ Puppeteer, Fulfilment by SharkLegs co.
    (Underbelly Ed FRinge, Camden Peoples Theatre, WATERSIDE Arts

  • Julia/Puppeteer, The Flying Bath, by Samantha Lane for Little Angel Theatre
    (UK Tour, Lyric Hammersmith, Horse and Bamboo) 2019. Timeout (****)

Below you can Phoebe’s winning puppetry film ‘Perspectives’ from The Tunbridge Wells Puppetry Festival. This film was all made on one OHP projector during lockdown and is was written, performed and filmed by Phoebe. The music is composed by Lia Todd.