The Theatre Machines of

Max Humphries is a puppeteer and theatre maker. His work takes inspiration from the Bunraku puppet school of Japan, the automata of 18th & 19th century Europe and the drama theory of Edward Gordon Craig. Known for his experimental mechanisms and novel puppet forms, he has produced work for the Royal National Theatre, Royal Opera House, Royal Ballet, Théâtre du Châtelet, Bristol Old Vic, the Royal Court, the Lyric Hammersmith, the Little Angel, Green Ginger, Pickled Image, Headlong, Little Bulb Theatre, Nightlight and Figurentheater Nordland, among others.

Currently he is working as the Chief Puppet Designer for the  Cirque du Soleil for there as yet untitled 2016 show.

He is proud to be puppeteer in residence at the Farnham Maltings.

"I believe in trying to achieve the best possible mechanisms for a puppets movement and manipulation; finding the line between the needs of the puppet, the puppeteer, the maker and the performance. My ideal would be a theatrical landscape in which the puppet is viewed as actor, without preconceptions.”