The Pinxton Puppets Theatre began life in the mid 1980s when, after performing extensively throughout West Germany, Ian and Gordon Wright decided to return to England and form a puppet theatre in the United Kingdom.
Before this, Gordon had been playing guitar throughout West Germany, both alone and with various combinations of musicians, whilst Ian, who had always had a love of puppets and puppetry, had also performed throughout the country with his outdoor puppet theatre.
However, after a while, Gordon and Ian met up again in Munich where Ian was performing with a set of animated puppets, and Gordon began to accompany him on the guitar.
After returning to England the pair formed the Pinxton Puppets and their first performance was on 'local soil' at the Longwood School's Summer Fete in Pinxton in 1984. Within a short time they were appearing at numerous schools, libraries, shopping centres and other venues throughout Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire.
Before long their outdoor work at Carnivals, Fetes and Craft, Country and Gift Fairs took them to locations all over the United Kingdom and now, thousands of performances later, they have presented their shows at a host of celebrated venues around Britain, and their puppets have also been featured on BBC Television and the popular children's TV programme 'Playbus'.
In addition to performing their puppet shows, the Pinxton Puppets have also created their own moving animated puppet displays and their characters have been featured at locations such as Alton Towers, in Staffordshire and the Midland Railway Centre, in Derbyshire. They also designed and built a whole set of 'Robin Hood' characters for the 'Tales of Robin Hood' country theme park near Sherwood Forest in Nottinghamshire.
In 2016 Ian retired from the Pinxton Puppets, but Gordon still continues to entertain audiences up and down the country, performing 'up beat' versions of traditional Fairy Tales, such as Little Red Riding Hood, Hansel and Gretel and The Three Little Pigs.
The Pinxton Puppets resumé includes shows at:
Alton Towers - Sandringham - Woburn Abbey - Cardiff Castle - Beaumanor House - Sheehy Hall - Nottingham University - Leonardslee Gardens - Tatton Park - Broadlands - Aberdeen Highland Games - The Humber Bridge - Exeter Showground - Haigh Hall - Markeaton Park - Whatton House - Snibston Discovery Park - Thame Showground - Grantham Carnival - Lincoln Castle - Mirfield Show - Etwall Well Dressings - Marbury Merry Days - Kings Lynn Festival Too - Langham Street Fayre - Paignton Children's Festival - Bolsover Castle and many many more!