Interview: Peter Broughton on Creature and immersive puppetry

Image: Peter Broughton

Immersive Rumours: Hi Peter, thanks for speaking with us today. Do you mind introducing yourself and telling us a bit about where people would know you from?

Peter Broughton: I'm Peter Broughton. I'm an actor, puppeteer, and immersive theatre maker. People probably best know me from Bacchanalia, which I co-created and assistant-directed, and also performed in as Dionysus. I’ve also been in shows like Phantom Peak and The West with COLAB Theatre, and last year I was Paddington Bear in Paddington Lo-Comotion in Oxford.

IR: How long have you been working in the immersive world for?

PB: At the tail end of the pandemic, I got a job at Doctor Who: Time Fracture and moved to London. I'm a huge Doctor Who fan, so I was stoked to be involved in any way. Soon after, I also started working at The Great Gatsby immersive show, which was upstairs in the same building, so I’d be running up and down between the two, meeting people and networking as I went.

It was a really magical time, and I developed a nose for who was interested in making work and who I could collaborate with. In traditional theatre, if you’re at the box office, you can’t stop a huge TV executive who happens to be passing through and say, 'Hi, here’s why I’m perfect for your next project', but in immersive, you’re already within the performative space.

Photo supplied by Peter Broughton

IR: At the end of September, you’re debuting Creature as part of COLAB Invitational Theatre Festival. Can you tell us a bit about the show and what people can expect?

PB: Absolutely. Creature is a one-audience-member experience. In the show, you’re Victor Frankenstein, kidnapped on your wedding night, and physically moved through the space in a wheelchair. The story is told by the creature, who keeps reminding you, 'I told you I’d be here. You knew this was coming.' It’s about rejection and abandonment, told through immersive techniques, puppetry, and binaural audio. It’s intense but relatively short.

IR: As you just mentioned, Creature is only for one audience member at a time. What is it about that format that’s so interesting to you as a creator?

PB: With large-scale, free-roaming immersive shows, storytelling can get lost. Scaling everything down and making it clearer is the way to go. With my work as part of Sleepwalk, I was adamant that all the key bits of plot were visible and that all the key story moments happened when everyone came together. Seeing The Manikins: a work in progress made me realise that creating a one-audience-member show was achievable for me. I also noticed just how popular one-on-ones are at Punchdrunk, when fans rush to get into them. They really want that exclusive private moment, and it showed me the level of demand for this kind of experience.

IR: What drew you to Frankenstein as the source material for the show?

PB: This show is a very unfaithful adaptation. It's not so much about a man playing god; it’s about the creature itself. It explores how it feels to be created only to be discarded. My biological father left when I was very young. That raw feeling of 'You brought me into the world - step up!' is huge for me. In the show, the creature feels the same sense of abandonment. He’s one of a kind, completely alone, needing his creator’s support, and he’s not shy about letting you know when he’s angry, confused, or about to do something really unpleasant. I resonate with that energy, and it’s at the heart of the piece.

Photo: Alex Walton

IR: And where did the decision to have the audience sit in a wheelchair for the duration of the show come from?

PB: Accessibility. Too often, shows advertise wheelchair access, then surprise you with stairs. Here, the wheelchair is built into the show. My parents have mobility issues and struggled to see past shows, so it made sense to design it this way. I’ve also found the movement of the chair a useful creative tool: in this show, the set, the lights, the characters, and even your seat are puppeteered.

IR: Speaking of puppets, within the show, you’re going to be puppeting the creature. Who else is involved in this run at COLAB Tower?

PB: I’ve been working on the audio with Hanna Gardner, my best mate from university. She’s an amazing musician, and the binaural audio is one of the most important elements of the show and really shapes the audience’s experience. My other pals, Jessica Southwood plays Igor, Elena Sirett is handling lighting and stage management, and Alice Thomas has a secret role. The show’s textile and graphic design is by my beautiful partner, Audrey Rodriguez. We recently recorded some of the audio at Hanna’s flat, and I was screaming into a mic while her cats looked at me like, 'What is happening?' Moments like that are why I love immersive theatre: it’s unpredictable and a bit weird.

IR: You’ve had opportunities to do puppetry previously, most notably in Bacchanalia and Paddington Lo-Comotion, but is Creature the first time you’ve had total control over the use of puppetry?

PB: Yeah. Thanks to the Kickstarter, I’ve been full-time on this project for a couple of months. It’s a huge privilege. Stressful? Absolutely. But creatively, it’s been incredible. I’ve learned new skills and had the chance to make something with friends I trust. I'm excited to be able to work on my craft in both puppetry and immersive theatre.

Peter Broughton in Bacchanalia (2023) Photo: Ivy Corbin

IR: How have you found designing and creating the life-size puppet for the show? That must be quite the task.

PB: Yeah, it’s a challenge. I had to find the right level of creepiness. Inspired by Don’t Hug Me I’m Scared, we're mixing familiar children’s TV aesthetics with horror. It’s a full-body puppet designed to be operated the same way as Big Bird from Sesame Street. I love making puppetry for adults: people often assume it’s kids’ stuff, but after a little while, the audience starts connecting with the puppet and forgetting about the puppeteer. Big puppets like in [the West End version of] Totoro or the ones in Spirited Away help immerse you in the world, and kids do it naturally because they’ve not been told to stop imagining yet.

IR: And where do you think your love of puppetry came from?

PB: VHS tapes of the old Muppet movies. Jim Henson’s work is magical: his characters balanced chaos and gentleness, like Gonzo firing himself out of a cannon one second and singing a heartfelt song the next. I recently saw some of Henson’s puppets in New York, and it was a very emotional experience for me (ask my girlfriend). Seeing his full-body puppets in the same room, like Big Bird from Sesame Street, helped me understand how it functions. I also saw Kermit and completely lost it. My girlfriend was like, 'Aw, honey, why are you crying over these puppets?'

IR: I think I would have the same reaction to be fair…

PB: I was like, 'It’s Kermit! What do you want me to do?!' Growing up with that, it really shaped how I think about puppetry, and now working in immersive theatre, it seemed like a no-brainer to merge my passions and create something for people like me - who cry at puppets.

Photos supplied by Peter Broughton

IR: What do you think is next for Creature after the performances at COLAB Invitational Theatre?

PB: Hopefully, festivals or wherever there are available spaces around London. I’ve been in talks to stage it at Vaulty Towers’ basement, or maybe even in the Vaults in Waterloo. Camden Fringe? The show can scale up or down depending on the space and opportunity. That’s the way I designed it. I’ll take anywhere that will have me.

IR: Finally, where is the puppet going to go after this?

PB: Honestly, I've got no idea. Right now, my flat has been taken over by the bloody thing. Hopefully, it’ll be brought out again, but in the meantime, it might have to live in my grandma’s garage. She’ll be really happy about that, I’m sure.

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Peter Broughton's Creature is at COLAB Invitational Theatre Festival at COLAB Tower on the 26th and 27th September 2025. Tickets are sold out.

To stay up to date on Creature, follow @creature.immersive on Instagram. You can also follow Peter's work at @peterbroughtonactor on Instagram, and via peterbroughtoncreative.com