Oliver Hymans - Puppet Designer and Director - Puppets created by Little Angel Theatre
Oliver Hymans is an award-winning puppetry artist and director, and currently serves as Associate Director at Little Angel Theatre, the UK’s leading puppet theatre.
He has worked internationally across four continents, directing and designing puppetry for theatre, opera, film, dance, circus, and music video. His puppets have been featured at prestigious venues including Tate Modern, Southbank Centre, Royal Albert Hall, Arcola Theatre, The National Gallery, Camden Roundhouse, Lyric Hammersmith, the V&A, the Institute of Contemporary Arts, London Craft Week and the Salone del Mobile in Milan, the world’s principal international design fair.
Oliver’s productions have been widely acclaimed by critics, praised as “visually dazzling… funny and beautiful… poetic and precise” (The Guardian), with “rich, sophisticated and thrillingly designed…” (The Stage). His puppet designs have been described as having “brilliant, realistic movement and wonderful personality” (Broadway World) and “filled with life” (Total Theatre Magazine).
A leading figure in the puppetry sector, Oliver is also a specialist in the historic craft of marionette making and in 2023, he successfully championed the addition of marionette puppetry to the Red List of Endangered Crafts. His advocacy and artistry have earned him a QEST Scholarship (Queen Elizabeth Scholarship Trust), inclusion in the prestigious Homo Faber Fellowship, and recognition as a finalist for Heritage Crafts’ Woodworker of the Year 2023. He recently lead the artistic direction of the Little Angel Theatre’s landmark Heritage Lottery project, 600 Years on Strings, which included a brand new marionette production of The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, an exhibition and new book called ‘Marionette’.
In 2025, Oliver received a Fringe Theatre Award for Exceptional Services to Puppetry. recognising Oliver’s outstanding contribution to the puppetry world as an advocate, artisan, designer and mentor. He won an OFFIE Award in 2023 for his curation of the outstanding annual puppet festival that spotlights top quality British and international shows for young people and additionally promotes access to puppetry for people of all ages, including industry creatives, by offering practical workshops. Oliver’s efforts also underpin a unique puppetry design training programme, generating opportunity for otherwise underrepresented rising talent to be supported and to present their work publicly, whilst more widely helping secure the future of the genre.
Alongside his professional practice, Oliver has taught widely as a visiting tutor and lecturer at leading UK arts institutions including Guildhall School of Music & Drama, Central Saint Martins, Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, Rose Bruford College, and Wimbledon College of Arts.
Instagram: @buddyollie
Website: www.oliverjameshymans.com
About Little Angel Theatre
Fueling the imagination through the magic and wonder of puppetry, we produce ground-breaking, innovative shows for children and their families at our venues and on tour. We also welcome puppetry companies from around the UK and overseas to our annual Children’s Puppetry Festival. Our intimate spaces offer the ideal first experience of live performance for the very young and a home for bold, thought-provoking work for older children, helping to nurture a lifelong love of theatre.
Alongside our productions, we deliver imaginative education and participatory activities in our venues, schools and community settings, as well as a programme of online shows and digital content available for those who can’t travel to our venues. We have used puppetry to create and share inspiring stories since opening our doors in 1961; igniting the imaginations of the youngest minds, and supporting puppetry artists at all stages of their careers. The theatre’s success has been built upon a spirit of artistic innovation and high quality production values. We are committed to pushing the boundaries of what puppetry can be, whilst preserving its heritage.
Instagram: @littleangeltheatre
Website: www.littleangeltheatre.com