News

The students of ESNAM’s 14th class are concluding their second year with a performance based on Witold Gombrowicz’s play “The Marriage”, directed by Natacha Belova.

Wednesday 10 June at 7 pm & Thursday 11 June at 2.30 pm and 7 pm.
At the Théâtre de l’ESNAM

From September 16 to 20, 2026, the Pôle International de la Marionnette – Jacques Félix (PIM) is organizing “Temps d’M.” With 23 puppet theater productions—totaling 65 performances—in theaters and public spaces, 4 puppet-making workshops, 4 professional networking events, artistic workshops, and social gatherings open to all audiences, Charleville-Mézières and the Ardennes will come alive for 5 days!

“Polichinelle’s Happy Journey”
Polichinelle, an iconic figure of Neapolitan folk theater, comes to life under the expert hand of Philippe Saumont, one of the few French puppeteers trained in Naples. Despite limited mobility, he returns with a funny, clownish show in which Polichinelle defies everything—even death—to make young and old alike laugh out loud.
Fri., May 29 at 7 p.m. – Auberge de Bois en Val
Sat., May 30 at 7 p.m. – Les Cols de la Marine (Montcy-Notre-Dame)
Sun., May 31 at 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. – Square Bayard

Join an amateur workshop for adults led by Philippe Saumont, puppeteer specializing in traditional Neapolitan glove puppetry!

Saturday 30th May from 2 to 5pm
Espace Lebon (Place de l’Église Saint-Rémi)
30€

“Mastery and finesse of the movement – Towards hand virtuosity .”
Training course conducted by Yeung Faï, a master of Chinese glove puppetry, assisted by Yoann Pencolé, puppeteer, artistic director, director of the Théâtre à la Coque.
Registration deadline: 31 May.

For two weeks, the students of the Department of Puppetry of the Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst (HMDK) in Stuttgart and those of the Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Arts de la Marionnette – Margareta Niculescu (ESNAM) meet in Charleville-Mézières then in Stuttgart, for an exceptional Master Class, with the Belgian artists Agnès Limbos (Cie […]

Sign your child up for a workshop to create 2D movable-part cutouts and introduce them to linocut printing. They’ll learn how to make prints and go home with their very own stamps!

Wednesday, April 15 through Friday, April 17, 2026
9:30 AM to 12:00 PM for ages 7 to 9
2:00 PM to 4:30 PM for ages 10 and up

Carte blanche to the students from ESNAM and from the Puppetry Department of the Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst (HMDK) in Stuttgart (Germany).

Friday, April 10, 2026, at 6:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m.
at ESNAM, 16 Jean Jaurès Ave.
30 minutes
Ages 10 and up
Free admission

The Pôle offers 4 residency programmes: Creation residencies, Graduate residencies, residencies in Nurseries and Research residencies, as well as a programme to support employment of young graduates.

The call for applications closes on 3 May 2026.

The Pôle International de la Marionnette – Jacques Félix is changing the way it operates for the programming of the World Puppetry Festival in September 2027.
If you are an artist or company and would like to bring your work to our attention, we invite you to read the new programming guidelines.