German travelling figure theatre company. Puppet Players was founded in London in 1974 by Susanne Forster and Stefan Fichert. The company has been based in Gauting, Germany since 1976.

After studying English and art, Forster and Fichert trained in puppetry arts at the Little Angel Theatre in London from 1967 to 1976. Between 1974 and 1985, they set up their own company with artistic contributions from George Speaight. Their repertoire has included performances such as the shadow plays, Josa mit der Zauberfiedel (Josa with the Magic Violin, 2002) and Sisyphos (Sisyphus, 2003), and string puppet performances such as Der weiße Dampfer (The White Steamboat, 1998) based on the work of Kyrgyz writer Tschingis Aitmatow. Their sophisticated collaboration with musicians, actors and dancers as well as musical experiments has shaped the style of their work.

Between 1989 and 1991, the company developed sound sculptures for the Festivals des Neuen Musiktheaters (Festivals of the New Musical Theatre) directed by Hans Werner Henze, which were then staged to international acclaim in the production, Lysistrata (1993). In the surreal play, Der Finsternis-Handel (The Trade in Darkness/The Darkness of Commerce, 1999), the Puppet Players confronted sound sculptures with Georg Christoph Lichtenberg’s aphorisms.

(See also Germany, Shadow Theatre.)