The Old Trout Puppet Workshop

The Old Trout Puppet Workshop The Old Trout Puppet Workshop was founded on a ranch in southern Alberta back in the strange winter of 1999. Where are we going?

We were a small gang of old buddies, with a fondness for beards and wood and wool and other old-fashioned and pleasant things; the world was uneasy with the threat of Y2K, and we felt an urge to huddle together for mutual protection, and to dedicate ourselves to something fragile, ridiculous, and gentle, out on the edge of the world. So we learned to carve puppets, and paid our rent through wholes

ome labour; we collected eggs, fed the pigs, cooked big stews, and premiered our first show to a bunkhouse full of cowboys and Hutterites. For the record, the Hutterites were more impressed than the cowboys. We took that show into Calgary to the High Performance Rodeo, and people clapped; in that moment, an insatiable craving for applause was born in us, and the warm contentment of our ranch camaraderie turned into mean and craven Ambition. We've been labouring under the lash of that evil spirit for over ten years, during which time a great deal has changed. We moved to the city, for instance, and now operate out of a workshop next to the train tracks in industrial Calgary. It's a thriving operation that has grown much larger than the original hairy few. Dozens of people are employed at various points in the year for various projects. We've got a nascent apprenticeship program, technical and administrative wings, and three shows on the road this season. We've toured our productions across Canada and into the United States and Europe. We've mounted seven mainstage shows, most of which are lurking in crates at the workshop, ready to deploy: The Unlikely Birth of Istvan, The Tooth Fairy, Beowulf, The Last Supper of Antonin Carême, Pinocchio, Famous Puppet Death Scenes, and most recently The Erotic Anguish of Don Juan. And now we're hard at work on our next show, a puppet documentary about cavemen, called Ignorance. The taloned grip of Ambition has been fierce upon us. Will we ever understand what hollow ghosts we've become? Can we ever retrieve our innocence, now that it is lost?

08/20/2026

P2 Trout took part in representing the East in an effort to bolster Sminovich nominations from this part of Canada!

08/05/2026

It's the middle of summer, at the end of one of our busiest years ever, and we were just reminiscing about how it all started. Have you heard this one before?

Tonight is Calgary's Betty Mitchell Awards, where Calgary's professional theatre over the past year is celebrated. We ...
06/29/2026

Tonight is Calgary's Betty Mitchell Awards, where Calgary's professional theatre over the past year is celebrated. We are honoured to be nominated for a number of awards, for The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and for The End. We are also thrilled that so many of our colleagues this year were nominated! We hope everyone has a great time celebrating Calgary Theatre tonight.

Photos :

1 - THE END (Photo of Kit Benz taken by Stang Photography), nominations include Mike Rinaldi for sound design, The Old Trouts for direction, and The Old Trouts and Mike Rinaldi for New Play.

2 - Ali DeRegt in THE END, photo by Stang Photography, is nominated for Supporting Performance in a Comedy

3 - THE LEGEND OF SLEEPY HOLLOW - (photo of Emily Howard, Devon Brayne and Matthew Mooney, taken by Abigaile Edwards for Banff Centre) nominations include Sonoyo Nishikawa for Lighting Design, Andrew Blizzard for Sound Design, The Old Trouts for Costume Design and Set Design, Haysam Kadri for Fight Choreography, and Matthew Mooney for Lead Performance in a Drama

4 and 5 - our Associate Producer Meg Farhall is nominated for Lead Performance in a Comedy for her work in Lunchbox Theatre's Beyond the Sea, and our Board Member Duval Lang is nominated for Lead Performance in a Drama for his work in Fire Exit Theatre and Hit & Myth's Lewis and Tolkien.

Enjoy the celebration tonight, everyone!

Check out Pete on the cover of the Festival newspaper, here in Plzen
06/14/2026

Check out Pete on the cover of the Festival newspaper, here in Plzen

Tonight, we saw a puppet slam Divadlo Alfa as part of Skupova Plzen, and on Sunday we will perform Famous Puppet Death S...
06/12/2026

Tonight, we saw a puppet slam Divadlo Alfa as part of Skupova Plzen, and on Sunday we will perform Famous Puppet Death Scenes here. If you are in Czechia, don’t miss out on this amazing festival!

06/11/2026

The End has closed, but here's a little peak into what matters most to the Old Trouts when it comes to making shows. And a definition of something that might sound familiar, but maybe you call it something else - the goblet of doubt

We're still looking for a few more volunteers for June 20 and 21 at Deerfoot Casino. Want to help us out at our biggest ...
06/08/2026

We're still looking for a few more volunteers for June 20 and 21 at Deerfoot Casino. Want to help us out at our biggest fundraiser of the year? We're specifically looking for folks to support in the Count Room and Chip Running (late shifts, but fun shifts!) Don't forget that if you volunteer you not only receive our eternal thanks, you also get a free meal at the Casino

Click through here to sign up - we'd be ever so appreciative! https://www.signupgenius.com/go/5080F44ABAC2FA4FF2-63018217-oldtrout #/

Photo of Ali DeRegt and Kit Benz in THE END, by Stang Photography

Congratulations to the team who brought you The End this week. Co-Created by the Old Trouts and Mike RinaldiStarring Kit...
06/07/2026

Congratulations to the team who brought you The End this week.

Co-Created by the Old Trouts and Mike Rinaldi
Starring Kit Benz and Ali DeRegt
Set, prop and puppet design by The Old Trouts
Sound Design by Mike Rinaldi
Lighting Design and Assistant Set Design by Lane Shordee
Costume Design by The Old Trouts and Jen Gareau
Clown Direction by Shannan Calcutt
TD Jason Eckenroth
Stage Manager Kate Pallesen
Photos by Stang Photography

První hosté na Skupovku jsou tady! Peter a Nan Balkwill a David Dole , tedy Old Trout Puppet Workshop dorazili do worksh...
06/06/2026

První hosté na Skupovku jsou tady! Peter a Nan Balkwill a David Dole , tedy Old Trout Puppet Workshop dorazili do workshopu Hzy Bažanta na DAMU. A vyrobí Proudy světla na Skupovce 13.6. večer.

Address

3640 15A Street SE
Calgary, AB
T2G3N6

Opening Hours

Monday 9am - 9pm
Tuesday 10am - 9pm
Wednesday 9am - 9pm
Thursday 9am - 9pm
Friday 10am - 9pm
Saturday 9am - 6pm
Sunday 11am - 6pm

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