On July 01 2026 we were entertained and enlightened by Jane Hoodless & Rachel Warr at the Devereux Pub in London.

Starting the evening out, Jane,  a multi-media artist drawn to surreal marriages of objects and ideas,  storytelling, and the more uncommon aspects of social history gave us a  fascinating overview of her work. At the core of her practice, Jane is  interested in why people do what they do – though more usually, why they  did what they did - and  talked with us about the role of fabrication, authenticity and research  in her practice, and how topics such as Victorian criminology, the  social significance of hair, the history and hysteria surrounding  menopause, and the (un)natural world have inspired her.

Following Jane, Rachel led us into the world of puppetry.  From history to performance, Rachel  talked with us about puppetry’s range, the techniques it requires and  the artistic paradoxes at its heart. She illustrated hrough live  demonstration and audience participation, what she believes is taking  place when watching puppetry in action. She then showed us the work she  does off the stage, sharing examples of team training she does with  surgical teams as well as the how puppetry informs the work she with  students around the topic of knife crime.

It was a fascinating and thought-provoking evening with two fantastic speakers and a marvellous audience!