Dear friends of puppetry, fairy tales, and storytelling,

I would like to personally share my impressions of the 2026 Puppetry Conference at the Goetheanum in Dornach (Switzerland) with you.

This year, the puppetry conference took place a little earlier than in previous years—already in January. I was really looking forward to it, as it always feels like “coming home,” surrounded by many friends and familiar faces. At the same time, there are always new people who find their way to the Goetheanum in Dornach (CH) for this weekend, which is both wonderful and important for our work.

The program presented to us in advance was once again very varied and full: lectures, performances by different puppet theaters, and working groups—something I personally value very much. About sixty interested participants gathered on Friday evening at 6:00 p.m. in the Halde below the Goetheanum. After a short welcome and round of introductions, the theme of the conference was explained: Fear and Redemption! A truly exciting topic, which, as we know, plays a major role in fairy tales.

After a lecture on the conference theme and an initial tabletop puppet performance, we divided into four working groups. I would have loved to take part in every group, but this year I really wanted to work with Debora. In this group, we worked a great deal with our own movement—exploring proximity and distance, leading and following, and our emotions. I always find it astonishing how quickly people grow closer through this kind of shared activity and experience. Gradually, through this process, we arrived at the emotion of fear and thus approached the theme of “fear in fairy tales.”

On Saturday morning, we immediately continued with movement. Through eurythmy, we were carefully attuned to the conference theme. The day was characterized by further intensive group work and many beautiful and deeply moving performances. At this point, I would especially like to highlight the performance of the Italian group. They enchanted us with a wonderful transparent shadow play. The powerful effect of the colored images, together with the harmonious and finely tuned accompanying music, allowed me to immerse myself in another world—magnificent. And of course, throughout the day there was always time to discuss and exchange ideas with like-minded people. Many of us perform in our own puppet theaters, have new projects in mind, and naturally always have a lot to share. Time and again, I am deeply touched by how we puppeteers support and carry one another in our work and struggles.

Sunday morning also began with eurythmy—and we were all wide awake again in no time! Now it was time to share the results and the jointly lived-through process from the working groups with the full assembly. Here too, I was once again impressed by what could be achieved in such a short time within the individual groups.

After one final performance, we unfortunately already had to arrange our chairs into a closing circle. Each of us was asked to share with the others what we personally would take home from this weekend. The answers were, of course, very different—but I could feel that for each of us, the conference was a gift.

Warm regards,
Yours,

Urs