 About us
We are Stuff and Nonsense; a rapidly expanding Dorset-based theatre company that loves to
make energetic, thought provoking and downright mischievous theatre productions for younger
children and their parents. We sprang into life on January 1st 2000 when Marc Parrett finally
gave up his day job and set off around the UK with his quirky puppet-based shows. Children and
grown-ups alike flocked to see Dusty the Vacuum Cleaner Boy, Dragon’s Teeth and Greenfingers,
all of which featured Mr Parrett and a host of uber talented puppeteers, performers and musicians.
Niki McCretton joined forces with Marc in 2008 bringing with her an incomparable array of theatre
making experience including award-winning national and international tours with Heretic, Throw
me a bone, Wormhole, Relative, Space 50, Muttnik, Hoof and Horseplay, plus important work with
nursery aged children and 5x5x5 = creativity.
In a whirlwind decade we’ve produced and toured Across the Deep Blue Sea, two versions of 3
Little Pigs, a small version of The Little Red Hen, a larger version of The Little Red Hen, The
Enormous Turnip and most recently The Elves and the Shoemaker! Even more productions are in
the pipeline so keep checking this site to see what’s coming soon!
In September 2010 Stuff and Nonsense scraped together every penny they could find and bought
a derelict theatre in Bridport, Dorset. The (old) Lyric came complete with exuberant flock wallpaper,
snug little office, ballet studio (now the puppet workshop) and pigeon sanctuary in the rafters (ew!)
With a bit of luck and a lot of help from a long list of eager volunteers the Lyric Theatre should be
open for business Summer 2011 with a season of shows, events and who knows what!

The Team
The Stuff and Nonsense family has grown too! Bridport born Tessa Bide joined the company in 2010 as assistant producer, theatre manager and performer. Upstairs in the workshop modelmaking graduate Marta Gemma and fine art graduate Emily Faulkner are now the "resident" apprentice puppet and prop-makers, churning out elves and magic shoes by the score
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