Who Are
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Frequently called "one of North America’s leading puppet theatres", Coad Canada Puppets was founded in 1966 by Arlyn and Luman Coad. The company has performed throughout North America as well as nearly twenty countries across Europe, the Middle East, South America, and the Pacific Rim. The Canadian Department of External Affairs has sponsored nine of the international tours.
The troupe has won numerous major puppetry awards including First Prize at the 1977 International Festival of Puppet-Actors in Poland, and both the Puppeteers of America Trustees’ Award and the President’s Award (the highest honours in North American puppetry). The American Centre of l’Union Internationale de la Marionnette has awarded the Coads eight Citations of Excellence in the Art of Puppetry.
For thirty-five years Coad Canada Puppets created a new half-hour, solo performer production which was toured for eight months to the elementary schools throughout British Columbia. As well they are annually invited to participate in children’s festivals across Canada.
They are frequent performers and lecturers at North American and international puppetry festivals and have taught their art at several universities. In 1987 they set up Charlemagne Press to publish books of advanced level puppetry and related topics. Over twenty titles are currently available.
O Globo, one of Brazil’s national newspapers, reviewed the Coads’ performance as "a play without words and of great universality it reflects the inquietudes of modern man. Besides the power of expression of the puppets and the technical precision of the manipulator, the most significant aspect of the show is its capacity of involving the public with emotion. Emotions which are caused by puppets; simple emotions but so powerful that they manage to produce more vivid results than the ones obtained by many live actors."
Angel & Imp from
"Up Please!"