Sue Buckmaster, born in London in 1963, is Artistic Director of Theatre-Rites, an expert in puppetry, and the fifth generation of theatre-makers in her family. She studied Contemporary Theatre Practice at Essex University, which awarded her an honorary doctorate in 2018 for her inspirational leadership in theater directing and puppetry. Since 1996, she has directed more than two dozen site-specific productions of theater for Theatre-Rites. She has experience as a director, puppeteer, dramaturg, and lecturer, and has worked with a variety of companies outside Theatre-Rites, including as puppeteer on The Caucasian Chalk Circle (directed by Simon McBurney, National Theatre), Pinocchio (directed by Marcello Magni, Lyric Hammersmith), and Peter Pan (directed by Ben Harrison, Three Sixty Entertainment). Her work as a director regularly includes cross-discipline collaborations. At Theatre-Rites she has collaborated with actors*, dancers, puppeteers, sculptors, animators, choreographers, Iranian daf drummers, world jazz percussionists, composers, DJs, beatboxers, and magicians - to name a few. She has directed three productions for the Ruhrtriennale (Salt 2008, Paradise 2010 and The Welcoming Party 2018) and most recently Zoe's Peculiar Journey Through Time for Burgtheater Wien in 2021. She is a consultant for Sadler's Wells, Polka Theatre and Theaterrevier from Schauspielhaus Bochum. Most recently, she staged Die unglaubliche Geschichte vom kleinen Roboterjungen at Schauspielhaus Bochum in the 2019/20 season.
Current roles:
- Director in Es liegt was in der Luft
Past roles:
- Text , direction in Die unglaubliche Geschichte vom kleinen Roboterjungen