Meet The Team!
Karen Crane - Director - "The 'Toy Shop Lady"
The Puppet Tree’s sole director and main creative facilitator is Karen Crane, a qualified nurse who has worked predominantly with children through her forty-six years of nursing and also holds counseling qualifications.
She is the author of several children’s books developed for projects funded by Children in Need, Awards For All, The Big Community fund, The Geoffrey Watling fund, and European funding from the MMO and district council. One of which involved the creation of a ‘muppet style’ movie!
She is the designer of a unique range of puppets and resources created to enable children and adults to make their own puppets from largely recycled materials and using equipment free from technological devices and electricity.
“I have a passion for the work I do here which has always been guided by the demands of the participants rather than by me. I have out-reached, net-worked, telephoned, e-mailed, studied and researched for almost eighteen years and dedicated every spare minute I have, to create this unique place where children and families can come and experience puppetry for themsleves.
I have painted lifted, nailed, fixed, drilled, sanded and sawn. I have planned, designed, re-planned and re-designed… and then I’ve done it all over again all as a single-handed businesswoman while looking after my family as a single parent and working as a nurse! Am I mad? Mad about puppetry, yes. And passionate about storytelling, and improving confidence, literacy and creative opportunities for children!
Dotti Colvin - All things drawn and animated - "Sochul Mejia Elf"
Dotti is an award winning illustrator and animator whose work has been published worldwide with a unique and confident style that never fails to raise a smile.
She joined The Puppet Tree last year in August to help us with all that tecchy stuff that needs doing in our modern times, leaving Karen to concentrate on delivering her amazing tech free experiences that The Puppet Tree stands for! She’s our social media Elf, website designer and serious puppet enthusiast. Her own history started in puppetry in Norwich, led through animation and into illustration over a 20 year career in London, New York, Brighton, Italy, and soon to be back in Norfolk. ( She works remotely right now) An all round creative and becoming an ever stronger addition to The Puppet Tree. You can read more about her here : www.dotspot.co.uk
“ When I first walked past The Puppet Tree on a family vacation last year, it was closed due to covid and I was ‘caught’ with my nose pressed to the glass trying to get a better look at what on earth this amazing place was. I immediately fell in love with the place, with Karen, her enthusiasm and all she has achieved. I was so impressed I knew imediately that I had to be a part of the future of The Puppet Tree.
Puppets and storytelling have always been a constant theme in my life, from my early years puppeteering my own toys, to exhibiting puppets in the Rockafella centre in New York in ‘95, to years of 3D animation in London, and most recently working as a childrens’ book illustrator. As a mum of two, puppets, storytelling and childrens literature have taken a central role in my life, both personally and professionally, and I want to pass on my knowledge and experience to inspire a new generation here at The Puppet Tree.”
Our Patron! - Steve Hewlett
Our patron is none other than Steve Hewlett a ‘Britain’s Got Talent’ finalist who has been a ventriloquist since the age of 12! He has impressed people from all over the world and even wowed Simon Cowell! He has had the pleasure of performing for Politicians, Royalty, Celebrities and millions of Britain’s Got talent fans in 2013.
“I have achieved all this with a puppet on my arm for 26 years. If I met Karen Crane back in the 1980’s when I started learning, she would now be a hero of mine….
I have seen the work Karen has created in the past and met the excited children she has inspired through puppetry & performance.
Working with puppets is not only a great way to communicate with children or audiences but it is a great tool to teach children with learning difficulties or who have no confidence to come forward have have someone to talk to.
I recently worked with an autistic child and he hardly said a word in school until he had a puppet on his arm. I gave him a ventriloquist lesson and he turned out to be funnier and cheekier than Arthur Lager. He didn’t stop heckling me through his imagination on his hand.
His teacher said she had never seen him so animated and confident.
Puppetry is a magical thing and makes people laugh, and children happy as well as a NEW way of learning and a fun style of performance to get the message across.
I admire people who want to take the time to teach children about the important surroundings they could be affected by in the future and by doing this they could make a difference.
Steve Hewlett & Arthur Lager