About the company

Rust & Stardust is a Sussex-based puppet theatre company. Our work focuses on new writing, puppetry, animation and music. We're passionate about stories and storytelling, folklore and mythology, and all things homegrown and handmade.


We are committed to engaging with sustainability in theatre and taking responsibility for our environmental impact. We aim to use recycled and re-purposed materials in the creation of our puppets, animations, sets and costumes where possible, and to minimise unnecessary printing. We are at the beginning of our journey into greener theatre and welcome the chance to explore new ideas. 

Eleanor Conlon 

Eleanor is a puppeteer, writer and costume designer and maker. She has an MA in Shakespeare and Early Modern Drama. Her work has been produced at Brighton Fringe, Lindfield Festival, Edinburgh Fringe, The Space, The New Vic and the Old Fire Station. She previously established Sussex theatre company The Barefoot Players. Recent plays include The Wild Man of Orford, Three Ribbons, Turning Leaves, A Winter Journey and Dr Dee's Daughter & The Philosopher's Stone. Eleanor is also a freelance costumer for other projects. 


Katie Sommers

Katie is a puppeteer, model maker and animator with a BA in animation from the University of the Arts London. She specialises in stop motion, 2D animation, puppet making and illustration. Katie has made puppets and performed for a number of productions, including Atomic Force Productions' Beowulf, Bright Moon Theatre's The Crossing and The Invisible Giant for Feral Theatre. Keen to collaborate and learn more skills, she has also interned with leading paper engineer, Corina Fletcher, DreamWorks director, John Stevenson and actor James Biddlecombe. 


Other work

Katie and Eleanor are currently part of the cast of Beowulf, written by Craig Jordan-Baker and directed by Andy Cresswell for Atomic Force productions. 

We are also Associated Artists with Bright Moon Theatre, a collaborative collective of artists and performers with a shared love of storytelling and folk puppetry.

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