Discover deeper insights through puppetry
I’m Mahtab — an Applied Puppetry Practitioner and Creative Facilitator. I help professionals explore difficult conversations, unlock hidden solutions and transform the way they think — through the unexpected power of puppetry.
What if puppets could change everything?
Sometimes the most unexpected tool opens the most important doors.
I use puppetry to help people say the things they’ve been struggling to say, solve the problems they’ve been avoiding, and see their world from a completely different angle.
No experience needed. Just curiosity and a willingness to show up.
About Mahtab
I was born in Iran, where I fell in love with poetry and puppetry at Tehran University’s Faculty of Fine Arts — graduating top of my class before completing a Master’s degree in Drama and Literature.
When I immigrated to the UK in my early twenties, I couldn’t find a puppetry community. So I did what creative people do — I adapted. I spent years as a producer and host of a weekly live women’s show exploring women’s rights in Iran, not unlike Loose Women. Meanwhile my puppets quietly lost their limbs and became clay sculptures — female figures inspired by Persian poetry.
But puppetry never left me.
For the last five years I have been finding my way back — working as a puppeteer, designer, maker and facilitator at festivals and commissions across the UK. I completed a Diploma in Puppet Therapy and discovered something powerful: puppets don’t just tell stories. They unlock them.
When I work with you, I am not your teacher. I am your guide — holding a safe space where puppets do the difficult work, so you don’t have to.
You don’t need any experience. The puppets will guide you. I will be there.
I collaborate with therapists, life coaches, work coaches and facilitators who want to integrate applied puppetry into their practice. If you work with people navigating difficult emotions, complex decisions or blocked communication — puppetry could might be exactly what's been missing.
I bring the puppets, the methodology and the creative facilitation. You bring your expertise. Together we create something neither of us could do alone.
I’d love to hear from you.
In their own words
Sometimes the best way to explain what happens in a workshop — is to let the people who were there tell you themselves.
"A refreshing and original workshop approach. The puppets acted as an ongoing icebreaker, shifting the group away from conventional methods like post-it exercises and encouraging collaborative thinking. They supported deeper engagement, helping participants move from individual responses into shared exploration of solutions."
Participant, Art and Health Sector
"The puppets invited non-verbal expression of complex experiences and encouraged us to work together physically in ways we don’t usually do. They created a safe space for exploring conflict and ideas in a very different way. It was also genuinely enjoyable — being invited to play helped us think outside our usual constraints and approaches."
Participant, Organisational Facilitation Workshop
"The Puppet Power workshop was an outstanding, highly interactive experience. It provided a fantastic platform for teamwork, communication, and creative delegation, bringing everyone together in a completely unique way. Highly recommended!"
Participant, Puppet Power Workshop Bournemouth University
Connect with Mahtab
connect@mahtab-applied-puppetry.co.uk