Stuff and Nonsense work with children in China and Bridport

Family theatre company Stuff and Nonsense, based at the Lyric Theatre are set to develop a brand-new production, shaped by the imaginations of children in Shanghai and Bridport this year.

Best known for their high-energy, comic adaptations of The Gingerbread Man, Pinocchio and The Three Little Pigs, Stuff and Nonsense has secured funding from the British Council’s Connections Through Culture (CTC) Programme to launch this innovative cross-cultural collaboration.

The CTC Programme supports artistic partnerships between the UK and the Asia-Pacific and Europe, fostering creative exchange and long-term cultural relationships.

The new project, Panda’s Big Journey, will exploring how children experience and interpret cultural differences. Inspired by the story of a giant panda, the project will develop early ideas for a new theatre show informed directly by children’s voices in both countries..

Using puppetry and physical storytelling that transcends language, the workshops will invite children to discover the perspective of the outsider, the newcomer who sees what others overlook.

Stuff and Nonsense will collaborate with Shanghai’s Little Player Theater to deliver the project in 2026. In June, the Little Player team will visit the UK and work with children in Bridport to begin the creative process that will generate ideas for the show.

The Stuff and Nonsense team will then travel to China in September 2026 working with children in Shanghai to continue developing the piece.

Niki McCretton, artistic director of Stuff and Nonsense said: “As a company we are proud of the way we make work alongside children and how their ideas sit front and centre within our storytelling. The opportunity to work with children in China and children here in the UK to create this show is going to be brilliant.

"We really want to understand and celebrate the cultural differences, friendship and be led by their wonderful imaginations. This is also a brilliant opportunity for knowledge and practice exchange and for us to share our creative process with Little Player Theater and for us to learn from them.”

“We are so grateful to the British Council for funding this opportunity and we cannot wait to share the outcome with you all.”

Dom Hastings, Head of Arts, British Council China said: “We are pleased to support this collaboration between Stuff and Nonsense and Little Player Theater through our Connections Through Culture programme. By centring the voices of children from both the UK and China, this project is a clear example of how creative exchange can build meaningful international connections and mutual understanding.”