German professional freelance touring company based in Stuttgart and, since 2009, in Leipzig. The Figurentheater Wilde & Vogel was founded in 1997 by puppeteer Michael Vogel (b.1970) and musician Charlotte Wilde (b.1971).

In 1992, Michael Vogel did an internship at the Divadlo Spejbla a Hurvínka (Spejbl and Hurvínek Theatre) in Prague. He is a graduate (1994-1997) of the Department of Puppetry, Studiengang Figurentheater, at the Staatliche Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst Stuttgart (State University of Music and Performing Arts Stuttgart) where he also taught from 1998 to 2006. In 1999, he held a scholarship from the Kunststiftung Baden-Württemberg. Charlotte Wilde studied Music, English and History in Karlsruhe. Since 1997, Figurentheater Wilde & Vogel has toured with their shows for adults and children to more than thirty countries in Europe, Asia and the Americas.

Groundbreaking for the company was their production, Exit. Eine Hamletfantasie (Exit. A Hamlet Fantasy, 1997). Wilde & Vogel create their own free association narratives based on existing texts and music, such as in Toccata. Ein Nachtstück über Robert Schumann (Toccata. A Night Piece on Robert Schumann, 2000). Charlotte Wilde improvises, composes and plays music live for the productions of Wilde & Vogel and other theatres on violin, guitar and keys. She is also responsible for the management and production of the company. Michael Vogel performs all puppetry techniques and usually manipulates in view of the audience. He builds the figures himself, which are never truly “finished”. They are “completed” in the eye of the beholder who ultimately has the freedom of his/her own imagination.

In 2003, Wilde & Vogel co-founded the Lindenfels Westflügel Leipzig, where they organize events and work as artistic directors.

The company also works with artists from other disciplines (actors, dancers, visual artists), as in the show Orpheus Underground (2001) directed by Frank Soehnle. Wilde & Vogel also leads workshops and collaborates with other companies and institutions, including with Akademia Teatralna w Białymstoku (Theatre Academy of Białystok, Warsaw, Poland), Kompania Doomsday Białystok, FIDENA Bochum, Puppentheater der Stadt Halle, Schaubude Puppentheater Berlin (or Schaubude Berlin), Theater des Lachens Berlin, FITZ! Zentrum für Figurentheater (Stuttgart), Lindenfels Westflügel (Leipzig).

Michael Wilde and Charlotte Vogel have lectured in the Department of Puppetry Arts at the Theatre Academy of Białystok (Akademia Teatralna w Białymstoku) in Warsaw, Poland.

Figurentheater Wilde & Vogel has received many awards, among them at the following festivals: International Solo Puppeteer’s Festival Lódz (Poland) in 1998; International Puppet Festival of Adult Puppet Theatre 2001 Pécs (Hungary); International Festival Bielsko-Biala (Poland) in 2002 and 2008; International Festival “Spectaculo Interesse”, Ostrava, (Czech Republic) in 2003; Theaterpreis der Stuttgarter Zeitung in 2007.

(See Germany.)