Krystal Puppeteers

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Krystal Puppeteers is a Kenyan-German puppetry and performing company established in 1995 in Mombasa, Kenya by puppeteers Fedelis Kyalo and Chrispin Mwashagha.

Combining traditional and contemporary puppetry techniques with live music and dances, Krystal puppet shows are not only captivating and creative but also transfer the audience to another world where puppets come alive and become one with the audience. The company has taken part in numerous puppet festivals all over the world including, Spain, Germany, Austria, Poland, Argentina, Ecuador, Brazil among others.

In 1995 Fedelis Kyalo started puppetry after being chosen by Family Planning Promotional Services, an organization from Nairobi, Kenya, for training by Gary Friedman from South Africa to use puppets for education.

At the time Fedelis worked in a hospital which ran a health education awareness program in the community using folk media.  HIV/AIDS was at its peak in Kenya at this time, and there was a need for awareness among the community? Given Fidelis'  background in theater and experience working within health-care settings, he was an obvious choice to be part of this pilot project.

For two weeks, training was conducted in Nairobi and then duplicated in other regions of the country including Fedelis’ region, Mombasa. He underwent beginner’s puppetry training, becoming part of the second generation of puppeteers who benefited from this training, and then continued learning from trainers from Germany who helped mold him into a puppeteer.

The kind of puppetry that Fedelis was trained to do is educational puppetry that addresses issues, such as HIV/AIDs, drug abuse, educating young girls, political corruption, and the environment. From what he’s seen, puppetry has been a very effective tool for the audience, who can relate to social issues via puppet performances. More and more local groups in Kenya are starting to employ puppets as a technique. Most shows are done in informal settings: market places, public halls, school compounds, and any other open air places where the public gathers.