“‘But I would also ask readers, as they try to imagine these performances, to bring into play their own memories of puppets and puppet shows they have seen. I would ask them to think of performances they might have glimpsed on the street or in a park, at a carnival or a child’s birthday party, on television or in a film, or to recall puppets they themselves made and played with as children, the particular worlds these figures helped to create or re-create—however rough or fragmentary the memories are, however much they mix up wonder and delight with a sense of something infantile or embarrassing. I have sought in this book to evoke some very basic things about the puppet theater and its implications. Thus, even the ambivalences it can evoke, the shudder of shame and fear, are worth holding on to.’”

“Inspired by Peter Carey’s short stories in his Collected Stoires, the first P*A*St performance took place as part of the Cardiff Design Festival in 2011. The performance happened twice with no rehearsal, the theatre and props were made over the 24 hrs preceding the performance. The only elements that were prepared in advance were the soundtrack and voice-overs, the beautiful pleasure bird, and the fateful Lily Danko.”