Photo credit: Richard Shakespeare

Andrew Purvin - Artistic Director

The Fetch Theatre is led by Purvin who has many years experience of directing and designing for the professional stage. He is also an internationally renowned puppeteer and puppet maker. 

 

His work is visual rather than word based. He has developed, over time, a unique style of telling stories with few or no words. He is also committed to passing on his skills and passion for puppetry to all ages, abilities and backgrounds.

“I see the puppet as a magical universal figure that can unlock the mystery of the human condition. Free of the constraints of language or script, it is a silent story teller that can speak profoundly to all of us, not in our heads but in our hearts”.

 

Purvin studied Theatre Design at Nottingham Trent University. In his final year he co-wrote, directed and designed his first production, 'Diggle and The Devil', with Game of Thrones actor Paul Kay.

 

After college he became a mask performer with Horse and Bamboo and joined their horse-drawn tour of Scotland and Northern Ireland. On his return he became Co-artistic Director of Pentabus Theatre with Steve Johnstone and held this post for seven years. During this period, Purvin designed and produced a plethora of unforgettable touring shows and educational packages, developed large scale site-specific residencies and formed an international element to the company, creating work in India and Portugal. This culminated in the creation of Teatro Montemuru a sister company setup to tour theatre into rural communities in Portugal.

 

After leaving Pentabus, Purvin founded The Fetch Theatre where he has continued to design innovative and shows and puppets ranging from tiny, hand held puppets, through to giant 'walkabout' puppets. He works closely with the Ukrainian community and continues to work throughout the UK and internationally. 

 

Purvin has also continued to work as a Theatre Designer and has designed for many professional companies, including the Birmingham REP, Foursight, Black Country Touring, The Watermill, Chol Theatre and About Face.

 

'Thanks to theatre, I have had the opportunity to work in the wild mountains of Portugal, the flat plains of the Punjab and run workshops in the pine forests of Galilee.'  

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Cindy Watson - Producer and Development Director

Cindy has worked in the arts for more than 40 years, from film and theatre in Australia, to work for the BBC, Hay Festival and the first Artistic Director of Ludlow Assembly Rooms. She has been at The Fetch since the beginning.

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Ruby Gibbens - Puppet designer, maker and performer

Ruby is a puppet designer and maker based in Cardiff. She has created bespoke puppets for companies nationally and internationally working in Portugal, New Zealand, Ukraine and Norway.

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Therese Collins

Therese is an actor, writer, street theatre, puppeteer and director. She is a long-time collaborator with The Fetch and regularly performs with us.

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Nataliya Prepodobna Cummings - Performer and Translator

Natalia is director of Experience Ukraine and runs cultural tours throughout Eastern Europe. She performs in and writes in both English and Ukrainian, most recently in our show The Healing House. 

 

​​​Galyna Grigoriardi - Composer and Performer

Galyna is an acclaimed Ukrainian bandura player who composes music and performs with The Fetch. 

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Rob Hill - Designer and Maker

Rob has more than 25 years' experience in theatre and production design and regularly collaborates with us, particularly on our larger makes, including recently our nine foot lion. 

 

Mary Keith - Composer and musical director

Mary is a freelance composer and musical director who regularly writes music for The Fetch shows and has composed new work for the 2026 production of The Seven Tears of the Selkies. 

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​Kate Whitehead - Costumes

Kate designs and makes costumes for us, including recently the outfit for our beautiful Lugg Maiden (pictured with Purvin above). 

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Cath Warren 

Cath has worked in community arts for 25+ years and recently joined the Fetch behind the scenes working on administration, bookings, marketing and workshops.

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Volunteers 

We are grateful to all our volunteers who support our performances- from puppeteers, through to event stewards, puppet and prop makers and partners who raise funds to bring amazing arts to diverse communities. We would like to thank each and every one of our volunteers.

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