Welcome to MANIPULATE, Edinburgh’s international festival of visual theatre and animated film.
“A wealth of delights for the imagination” THE GUARDIAN
“Dedicated to theatre as its most sensual and imaginative” THE SCOTSMAN
MANIPULATE Festival presents the very best of Scottish and international visual theatre, puppetry and animated film to adult audiences in Edinburgh and beyond. The Festival aims to engage and challenge our audiences with high-quality visually led work which pushes boundaries, plays with form and challenges perceptions.
All the work that we present seeks to bring life to the inanimate or to tell stories using primarily images rather than words. By bringing together visually stunning from across the globe with work which has been developed here in Scotland, we aim to spark opportunities for artistic exchange and to offer our audiences a diverse palette of rich visually led work.
Since 2008 leading, award-winning companies, artists and film-makers from Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Egypt, England, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Holland, Hungary, Iceland, Indonesia, Ireland, Iran, Israel, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Mali, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Northern Ireland, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Scotland, Slovakia, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Taiwan, the USA and Wales have provided the vibrant, dynamic core of a festival that entertains, intrigues and inspires.
The festival is produced by Puppet Animation Scotland.
Plan Your Visit
The 2023 festival will take place in Edinburgh across 4 indoor venues in addition to site-specific work out in the city. The venues are: The Traverse Theatre, Fruitmarket, The Studio, Festival Theatre and Summerhall. Please be aware that the Festival Theatre Studio is accessed via the entrance on Potterrow and not the main entrance on Nicholson Street, however tickets may need to be collected at the main box office. Please refer to your confirmation email from the relevant venue or instructions on collecting tickets.
Any tickets run through Eventbrite will be emailed to you directly including any codes you need to access online content. For any questions about accessing these please contact [email protected].
Performing or Screening Work at the Festival
MANIPULATE is a curated festival which means that there is no formal application or selection process for you to apply to. However, we are always delighted to hear from artists who have a new project to bring to our attention or want to build a relationship with Puppet Animation Scotland. To find out how to let us know about your work, how we make decisions about programming, and the timeline of decision-making, please visit our main website here.
Image: MANIPULATE Festival 2019, INVISIBLE LANDS by Livsmedlet Theatre