Credit: Lucy Barriball
Shakespeare’s Venus and Adonis arrives at the Arts Theatre Cambridge this June in a magical theatrical event featuring live narration by Simon Russell Beale and world-class puppetry. Originally created by Gregory Doran in collaboration with Little Angel Theatre, this acclaimed production blends comedy, tragedy and romance through Shakespeare’s first published poem.
By Grace Hatchell, writing from a secret puppet control room somewhere between Stratford and Tracy Island
Now then, I’ll admit it.
You say “puppets” and my brain immediately does two things.
First, it goes all soft and nostalgic.
Second… it starts humming Thunderbirds.
And honestly, can you blame me?
Because there’s summat wonderfully magical about watching hands, strings and imagination gang up together to convince us that wood, fabric and movement have suddenly grown souls.
Well buckle up, my theatrical lovelies, because Venus and Adonis is fluttering into the Arts Theatre Cambridge this June and it sounds less like a dusty classroom Shakespeare and more like an enchanted fever dream with Tracy Island levels of theatrical engineering.
And I am fully feeling it.
Shakespeare’s iconic narrative poem — thought to be his very first published work back in 1593 — is being brought gloriously to life through a team of world-class puppeteers, while none other than Simon Russell Beale narrates live.
Now that, dear reader, is casting that makes a theatre postwoman sit up straighter on her bicycle.
The poem tells the story of Venus, goddess of love, and her obsessive, unreturned desire for the beautiful Adonis. What unfolds is a heady mixture of comedy, tragedy, longing and seduction — Shakespeare stirring the pot long before anybody coined the phrase “situationship.”
But this isn’t merely Shakespeare recited politely from a lectern while audiences nod respectfully and unwrap mint imperials.
Oh no.
This is Shakespeare with moving parts.
Literally.
Originally created by Gregory Doran during his time at the Royal Shakespeare Company and developed alongside Little Angel Theatre, Venus and Adonis first appeared in 2004 before returning in 2007 and again in 2017. Each revival brings a fresh narrator to the story, with previous voices including Harriet Walter and Michael Pennington. For 2026, the storytelling baton passes to Simon Russell Beale — and what a pair of hands to place it in.
And let us pause for a moment to appreciate what puppetry does so beautifully.
Because sometimes puppets don’t make stories feel less real.
They make them feel more.
A tilt of the head.
A trembling hand.
A pause before touch.
It becomes oddly intimate.
Stripped of realism and somehow closer to emotion.
Rather like theatre’s version of Thunderbirds, really — except instead of International Rescue saving collapsing bridges, we’re rescuing Shakespeare from the dreadful fate of feeling “important” rather than alive.
The critics certainly fell for it.
British Theatre Guide called the production “sixty minutes of pure delight” and “one of the most beautiful and unusual shows” they’d ever seen, while The Sunday Times simply described it as “Magical.” Even The Telegraph praised its “terrific puppet show” qualities, noting audiences may leave “inexplicably moved.”
And moved is exactly the word I keep circling back to.
Because Shakespeare often gets wrapped in such grand ceremony that we forget he was writing about people — messy, hopeful, yearning people.
Love that isn’t returned.
Desire that becomes desperate.
Beauty that slips away.
And perhaps puppetry — strange little miracle that it is — helps us feel those emotions afresh.
So yes.
Count me intrigued.
Count me charmed.
And if I accidentally spend the interval whispering “F-A-B” while admiring the puppets, well… some habits are simply beyond rescue.
Venus and Adonis plays at the Arts Theatre Cambridge on 9 and 10 June, with performances at 2.30pm and 7.30pm. Tickets start from £2
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