Kathy Burks Theatre of Puppetry Arts, a professional company, is the oldest resident puppet theatre in the southwest. Established in 1973 as Kathy Burks Marionettes, and performing continuously since that time, the troupe has provided family entertainment for audiences in the Dallas/Ft. Worth Metroplex and throughout the United States.

At its inception the company performed exclusively with the antique marionettes which belong to Kathy Burks. Formerly owned and toured throughout the world by The Sue Hastings Company, of New York City, this is one of the largest collections of antique marionettes in the country, consisting of approximately 1,000 unique figures from the 1920’s and ‘30’s. These antiques proved too fragile, however, to withstand the rigors of continual performance. They currently make their home at Dallas Children’s Theater, where they appear in various exhibits celebrating the power of Drama, past and present. Now the public may enjoy both the beauty and the history of these incredible puppets.

With the retirement of the Hastings collection, Kathy Burks Marionettes began to design and construct new marionettes for performance, and to incorporate other styles of puppetry into its presentations. At last the company name seemed a misnomer, and in 1992 Kathy Burks Marionettes became Kathy Burks Theatre of Puppetry Arts, one of the few puppet theatres in the country to perform using all styles of puppetry, including traditional bridge and cabaret marionettes, hand puppets, shadow puppets, and Black Theatre rod puppets. Performance material ranges from adaptations of classic stories and fairy tales, to scripts based on original themes, and to puppet theatre interpretations of musical masterpieces such as The Nutcracker, Til Eulenspiegel, and Carnival Of The Animals. The company has also collaborated with Dallas Children’s Theater in live productions.

Although entertainment is the troupe’s primary goal, educational aims are inextricably interwoven. Both the founder of the company and the playwright/ composer possess degrees in education.

Each member of the company is a dedicated artist with an extensive background in various theatre arts. Skills in set and costume design, acting, directing, dance, lighting design, playwrighting, and musical composition all combine with expertise in puppet manipulation to produce a complete theatrical company which specializes in elaborate puppet productions.