Pilar Galvez and Fernando Gomez, promoters and directors of the Company, formed team with Herta Frankel in 1986. Since then, they have presented black theatres and puppets in numerous galas, performances and festivals.
Heirs to the artistic legacy of Herta Frankel and The Viennese, they preserve, exhibit and promote the most representative collection of puppets of the last seventy years. In their desire to show to the public all the material discovered and restored, in May 1995 they set up the exhibition Herta Frankel and Her Puppets at Sant Joan hall in Lleida, as part of the 6th Puppet Theatre Fair (20,000 visitors). In December 1995 the same exhibition was held in Barcelona, at The Viennese Hall (50,000 visitors), and in May 1996 it was presented in the Expo Casino of Seville during the XVI International Puppet Fair (20,000 visitors).
The reception of the audiences and the general interest expressed provided the necessary encouragement for the company’s subsequent projects. In July 1996, they set up the Herta Frankel’s Animated Puppet Exhibition, coproduced by Tibidabo Amusement Parc in Barcelona, thus giving rise to the Marionetarium project. Then with a stable place, they could devote themselves to the spread of that piece of cultural heritage with which they had been entrusted. What was at stake was the preservation of collective memory and of the very essence of puppetry, through a project that aimed at promoting and organizing a specific venue embracing all the facets of the art: animation, production and dissemination. The Company generates a constant increase of the team of puppeteers. The structure of Marionetarium allows for great variety and flexibility in the adaptation of shows to be performed at galas, openings and festivals: Inaugural Concert For the Lorca Year at Manuel de Falla Auditorium, Granada, 1997; Madrid Auditorium, 1998; Atraccions Montalegre, Center for Contemporary Culture Barcelona (CCCB); Teatre Grec, 2003, Centenario Theater at Hospitalet Catholic Center, 2004; Baby Dior presentation, 2004; Max Awards Gala, 2004; Wooden Clowns premiere at the Clown Festival in Cornellá, 2006; Mercè 2008-2009; Flamenco Festival of Ciutat Vella, 2009; Brasilia’s International Puppet Festival 2011; 3rd Golden Magnolia Shanghai International Puppet Festival and Competition, 2012; Puppet Festival Chuncheon, South Korea, 2013; Sakhalin International Puppet Festival, Russia, 2013; Mercè 2014; Izmir Puppet Days, Turkey, 2014; Mar-Marionetas Festival, Portugal, 2015; Puppet Days Festival, Bulgaria, 2015; Kukla Tiyatrosu Festivali, Istanbul, 2015; Hola Nadal, Barcelona, 2015; Festival Guant, Valls, 2016; Mostra de Pallassos de Cubelles, 2017; Festival Didó Terrassa, 2018; Mostra de Pallasses i Pallassos, Xirivella, 2018; La Titellada, Barcelona, 2019; Festival Titelles Moianès, 2021-2022; Joc al Ninot, 2024; Dansa Metropolitana, 2024.
Awards: Puppet Styling Award, Visual Arts Award, at the 3rd Golden Magnolia Shanghai International Puppet Festival and Competition, Xangai 2012. Continuarà Award, Spanish Television, 2013.
Thanks to the Herta Frankel Puppet Company, after more than twenty years at Tibidabo Amusement Parc, more than 25,000 performances and over 3,000,000 spectators, Marionetarium is now the only puppet theatre in Spain with handling bridges, first used in Words for Julius in 2006.
Marionetarium has been conceived as a theatre-museum-workshop-archive and training centre. It is a leisure and educational proposal that appeals to audiences of all ages.
