After being stolen from Kneehigh Theatre in January, a number of ‘irreplaceable’ puppets were returned anonymously to their head office in Truro on March 4th.
Here’s a rundown of what took place.
It was noticed by Sarah Wright, whose family had made the puppets, that they weren’t in their usual place. Originally, it was thought that someone had moved them to another location.
The company soon realised that the puppets had in fact gone missing after asking around within the company to see if their location was known.
Five puppets were stolen from the company. The missing puppets included two ‘Oskar’ puppets from the most recent show of ‘The Tin Drum’. Also stolen were two ‘Red Girl’ puppets and one carved wooden marionette.
In the aftermath of the discovery, the theatre alerted the police and published information concerning the incident on social media. It was also added that ‘Anonymous returns were welcome’.
A reward for £1,000 was offered for their safe return.
Since the Kneehigh Theatre’s post on February 26th, it has had over 2.9K shares online. 108 comments beneath the post consisted of shock and disgust, with most interactions stating that they couldn’t believe someone would steal such sentimental items.
A week later, on the morning of March 4th, the puppets were returned. The company has no information as to who stole the puppets or then returned them; but they were clear that an anonymous return would be welcomed.
Chloe Rickard, Head of Communication and Development at Kneehigh Theatre said: “They were returned in a case to the barns during the night, so we don’t have any information about who returned them of indeed where they had been. We are just thrilled to have the puppets back that mean so much to the company and Sarah Wright, whose family made them.”
When asked whether a production fabricating the puppet’s adventure would be produced, Rickard said: “We aren’t planning on a performance, but you never know!”
The company posted to Facebook on the Wednesday thanking everyone for their support in getting the sentimental puppets back to their home.
By Kara Leslie