Nicaraguan puppet company founded in 1990 in Managua by Roberto Barberena. This puppeteer, nicknamed “Pipo”, discovered puppets as a child when his father gave him two Mexican puppets that he presented at the major national literacy campaign of 1980. Barberena then began to manufacture puppets from recycled materials, newspapers and cardboard.

In 1983, he created the group José Benito Escobar, the name of his school, and with the Association of Sandinista Children, he presented Los chigüines at the Third Festival of Theatre for Children. The goal of Pipo and his company is to contribute to the development of children by sending them a message of peace and respect for life. The company has toured the country with plays such as El retablillo de Don Cristóbal (The Farce of Don Cristóbal), based on Federico García Lorca, and Un Marciano llega a tierra (A Martian Arrives on Earth).

(See Nicaragua.)