ESTELLE BRYER, ENSOULING PUPPETRY
Written by her daughters Janni and Lindy
Our mother, Estelle Bryer, passed away on July 1, 2026 at the age of 96. Master puppeteer, teacher, author, curative and performance eurythmist, comedienne, mentor, mother, grand- and great-grandmother. Jennifer Aguirre wrote a beautiful story about their friendship in the July 2026 WAPASA newsletter, and we will embellish a little on her amazing life.
Estelle was born in Bloemfontein, South Africa, and was instrumental in the formation of, and taught at, the first Waldorf School kindergarten in Cape Town, South Africa, in the early 1960’s. There she met Janni’s Class 1 teacher, Felicitas Fuhs, a eurythmist, musician, and outstanding puppeteer. She became Estelle’s teacher in this art, and together they made hand puppets from molded felt with silk clothes and scenery. They performed at various venues, using their earnings to buy musical instruments for the school orchestra.
Estelle then branched out on her own, designing and constructing a portable solo puppet theater and creating hand puppets, scenery and more, with lighting and sound equipment. This led to a long life of performing at birthday parties, shopping centers, in the deprived areas (townships) of Cape Town, and getting funding to go into the schools and kindergartens. She wrote a story called Jason and the Grey Witch, with a deep moral and strengthening message about overcoming and transforming evil. This was published and also set to music composed by Allan Stephenson and performed by the Cape Town Symphony Orchestra. It was translated into Xhosa, and was the play she brought with her (with recorded music and speech) to be performed as part of a lecture and demonstration of her township puppetry at the Goetheanum in Dornach. They even built a replica puppet theatre for her to use!
She then taught eurythmy and did eurythmy therapy at the Waldorf School. In 1992, she decided to transform her eurythmy therapy room (her old kindergarten classroom) and build a permanent 100+ seat puppet theater, the beautiful Rainbow Puppet Theater, which continues to give performances to what over the years must be thousands of children.
At least three decades later, the theatre continues to give two performances every Saturday morning with a different show every month, out of a total of 15 different stories (14 of which are included in her The Rainbow Puppet Theatre Book, sold by WECAN). She made about 150 puppets, painted backdrops and made scenery, still in use, and many of the shows included Shadow Theatre. On Saturday mornings, the parents and grandparents from all over the Cape would bring the children, and available while they waited were pamphlets, texts, and information on Waldorf education, parenting, the effects of television and so on – so taking Waldorf into the world and bringing children into the school. The tickets and food sales raise welcome funds for the kindergartens too.
One of her greatest joys was developing her “anthropuppets” shows; look-alike puppets of some members of the anthroposophical society in Cape Town. She transformed plays such as St George and the Dragon, Red Riding Hood, and Briar Rose, where the character would be depicted trying to tame dragons, or teaching eurythmy to each other, animals, etc. It was performed in the evenings for members and was extremely popular and hilariously funny.
Estelle wrote books on storytelling, including eurythmy and puppetry, as well as many articles. She gave lectures and held workshops for adults, children and early childhood educators. She performed in Kenya, Namibia, America, Europe, and England. In this way Estelle has taken a glimpse of the world of Waldorf education out into the world, waking people up to its wonders.
As Estelle grew older, she loved performing with her Puppet Aprons (she made 5 or 6) to smaller groups of children. She also found a new career as a stand-up comedienne, performing at retirement homes with a fun group called The Companions. This brought her so much joy.
Estelle rejoiced in the magic brought about through puppets, with children, adults, and the elderly. She said: “I have seen the magic everywhere, with adults or especially for old people. When I demonstrate for old people at the retirement homes, I talk about the miraculous things that happen in our lives, and get them to look back through their lives. I always try to bring in the spirituality and the guidance in our lives, illustrating it with things that happened in my own life which cannot be simply explained; how complicated the human being is and how wonderful it is, at our age, that we notice Nature around us more, that everything becomes alive. My greatest joy is using my monkey puppet, Zuzu, to get aged audiences to sing ‘Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star'.
“I also love the way, when you ensoul the puppet, they become part of you, you meet the best of yourself through them. In the workshops, I demonstrate how to portray the temperaments or different qualities, human or animal in each of the glove puppets – how you’ve got to visualize the knees and the feet, the way it walks, sits, etc. Be observant.”
Her eldest daughter Janni, Steiner Waldorf Early Childhood Consultant based in England, and Lindy, her youngest daughter, a professional viola player who moved to southern California in 1997, are also puppeteers. Estelle helped them build their portable theatres, supplied them with many puppets and enjoyed creating scenery and lighting with them. Lindy and her husband Rob, a retired school teacher and professional musician, continue to perform as Fairytale Puppets. How could we not follow in her amazing footsteps?
The Rainbow Puppet Theatre is published by WECAN, USA.
You can find more information on Estelle Bryer in the Honorary Member section of the WAPASA website.
