Lanchester Marionettes

[3] They were interested in the early 20th century puppet revival, pioneered by Harry Whanslaw, with whom Waldo had worked in the 1920s as part of the London Marionette Theatre.

[12] As part of the Entertainments National Service Association(ENSA) (subsequently CEMA) [13] the Lanchesters ran a touring puppet show that travelled 40,000 miles[14] giving some 700 performances[15] throughout the UK.

[18] Of a performance they gave in Wilmslow in October 1940, one reporter wrote “It was refreshing to sit for two hours in a world without dictators or bombs, but in which the foibles of life were etched with such understanding and without malice.”[19] Their puppet shows covered opera, ballet, theatre and circus.

[39] In 1949 they appeared at the British Theatre Exhibition in Birmingham[40] In 1951 they moved to Stratford-upon-Avon, where they opened a Puppet Centre opposite the birthplace of Shakespeare.

They also sold puppets, including Lanchester-Lee marionettes in kit form, made from easy-to-carve “Leetex”, a material developed by Waldo and John Lee.

[41][42] The shop also housed a “permanent exhibition of English & foreign puppets.”[43] As part of the Festival of Britain in 1951 they performed at the Marlowe Theatre, Bath Assembly Rooms and Wigmore Hall.

[45] It was featured on a “number of ocean liners, and the British Council purchased 15 copies for their overseas centres.”[46] During the 1960s they created maller-scale productions, staged exhibitions and gave lecture-demonstrations,[47] retiring in 1969.