Puppet of the opera: who’s pulling strings at the Rosemary Branch?

A scene from Renard, part of the Puppet Opera Triple Bill. Photograph: Bill Knight

Puppetry is to the world of theatre what cartoons are to film.

Traditionally associated, in this country at least, with childhood, the medium has been the subject of growing interest, thanks partly to the annual Suspense Puppetry Festival, which takes place in London late next month.

And if you think puppetry is a bit of a niche interest, what to make of the niche within a niche that is puppet opera?

Not just one puppet opera, but a triple bill, can be enjoyed at the Rosemary Branch Theatre this month and next – a kind of amuse-bouche before the start of Suspense.

The works by dedicated pupped opera company Third Hand, co-directed by Darren East and Stuart Baker, prove this really is the tenderest of mediums.

The second piece on the bill – the best of the three – is sandwiched between two short, comedic and somewhat bonkers offerings.

The first of these, Master Peter’s Puppet Show, is a libretto based on an episode from Cervantes’ famous book and offers an innovative spin on the story of Don Quixote, with American-born Benjamin Cahn playing the misguided knight and demonstrating an incredible set of vocal cords.

The evening is rounded off with what is described as a “rarely performed burlesque gem” by Stravinsky, a libretto entitled Renard, that sees the small stage transformed into a restaurant kitchen, but it is stymied by the frequent raucous banging of utensils and frivolous Tom and Jerry-like foolery.

The middle piece, Angela, an Inverted Love Story – as stated, this is the best of the three – is based on a short story of the same name by WS Gilbert and portrays a disabled artist in a room overlooking a canal in Venice who falls in love with a young woman whose reflection he sees in the water.

There is some beautiful puppetry – and beautifully made puppets – in this melancholic piece, and the music and costumes conjure up the Venice of the imagination and of literature so much better than any stroll round a tourist-ridden San Marco Piazza could.

Anthony Harris, who plays a gondolier, and Rosie Bell, who plays the artist’s love interest, both shine in this poignant piece of work.

In short, why endure the hell of a budget airline flight to Venice Treviso when you can get a taste of melancholic Italian romance in this a lovely little theatre in De Beauvoir?

There’s even a canal just outside.

The Puppet Opera Triple Bill is on at the Rosemary Branch Theatre, 2 Shepperton Road, N1 3DT. Various dates and times until 13 October.