Mervyn Millar

Mervyn Millar is a director and puppet designer based in London, and director of Significant Object. He was part of the original creative team of the National Theatre of Great Britain's War Horse, also appearing at the NT and directing casts in London, New York, Toronto and Berlin. His work with puppets includes Die Walküre, Siegfried (Opera National du Rhin); The Thief of Baghdad (Royal Opera House); Circus 1903 (Southbank Centre, international tour); Appreciate (Paul McCartney); As You Like It, The Comedy of Errors and Great Expectations (Royal Shakespeare Company); Stiller (Residenz Munich); Crow (Handspring UK), Aida (Lotte de Beer, Opéra National de Paris) and work for the National Theatre, Burgtheater Vienna, Schauspielhaus Zürich, NT Scotland, Scottish Opera, and the Royal Court. Awards include a Herald Angel Award and a Total Theatre Award (both for his collaboration with Kazuko Hohki, Evidence for the Existence of Borrowers). In 2010 Mervyn was awarded an Arts Foundation Fellowship for his work in puppetry. Mervyn has written three books on puppetry, Puppetry: How To Do It, Journey of the Tall Horse and The Horse's Mouth. His teaching includes sessions and workshops with organizations including The O'Neill National Puppetry Conference, The Arvon Foundation, RADA, Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama, the University of East Anglia, the National Theatre, the Royal Court, London College of Fashion, London International Mime Festival and The Actor's Guild. In 2015, he made a TEDx talk about puppetry and the imagination