The Hatchling

Lore & Background

The Hatchling was conceived by Angie Bual, artistic director of Trigger, as a celebration of cultural diversity, openness and unity, and to confront issues around migration and freedom of movement through the global symbol of the dragon. The puppet was designed in partnership with a palaeontologist and a team specialising in puppetry, kites and immersive theatre. Its shape is generally that of a pterosaur, though the finished adult puppet is a little larger than the prehistoric creature. The Hatchling is controlled by rods when in procession and can be kite-flown towed by the vessel St Nicholas over the sea. It has a wingspan of 20 metres and is described as 'the size of a double-decker bus'. In 2021, according to The Times, it was 'the largest [puppet] ever to be powered by people'.

Reader's Guide

The Hatchling's significance lies in its scale and its role as a unifying public artwork. It premiered in Plymouth in August 2021 as part of the Mayflower 400 programme, exploring ideas of freedom of movement, tolerance and home. Over 30,000 people attended the event, where the puppet hatched from an egg, built a nest, roamed the city, and eventually flew over Plymouth Sound. The flight required a team of puppeteers running to lift it until a breeze allowed it to ascend. The Hatchling later led the People's Pageant at The Queen's Platinum Jubilee Pageant on 5 June 2022, processing down The Mall with 5,000 street performers. Its appearance symbolised the magnitude of the Queen's reign, as described in BBC news coverage. The Hatchling remains available for touring, representing a landmark in human-operated puppetry and kite-based performance art.

Did You Know?

• The Hatchling's wingspan is 20 metres (65.6 feet), making it the size of a double-decker bus.
• It was constructed from super lightweight carbon fibre weighing less than a piece of hand luggage.
• The puppet was flown over Plymouth Sound on 29 August 2021, towed by the vessel St Nicholas and escorted by the tug Prince Rock.
• The Hatchling led a procession of 5,000 street performers at The Queen's Platinum Jubilee Pageant on 5 June 2022.

Engineering a Twenty-Metre Dragon

Standing at the scale of a double-decker bus with a wingspan stretching twenty metres, The Hatchling represents one of the most ambitious feats of puppetry ever attempted. Conceived by producer Angie Bual and brought to life by director Mervyn Millar and designer Carl Robertshaw, the creature is the product of Trigger Productions Limited, based in Bristol, England. Millar brings experience from the original War Horse creative team, while Robertshaw has designed sets for the London 2012 Olympic Ceremonies and holds five sport kite world championship titles. The design process involved a palaeontologist and a specialist team working across puppetry, kite engineering, and immersive theatre. Built using kite construction principles, the dragon operates in two distinct modes: rod-controlled for street processions and line-towed by a vessel for open-water flight. Funded by Arts Council England and Plymouth City Council, the project was recognised by The Times in 2021 as the largest puppet ever powered entirely by human effort.

Hatching and Flight in Plymouth

The Hatchling's world premiere unfolded across two days in Plymouth, Devon, as part of Mayflower 400, the year-long celebration marking four centuries since the Mayflower's departure for Massachusetts. Originally planned for mid-August 2021, the event was delayed as a mark of respect following a tragic incident in the Keyham area. When it finally took place on the 28th and 29th of August, the narrative saw the dragon hatch from an egg, construct a nest, grow to full size, and ultimately take to the skies from Plymouth Hoe. More than thirty thousand spectators witnessed the spectacle, enriched by poetry performances from Rebecca Tantony, Chris White, and Shagufta K. Iqbal, each exploring dragon mythology in their own voice. The climax arrived on Sunday evening, when the rod-controlled puppet underwent a metamorphosis into a kite. Towed by the vessel St Nicholas and escorted by the tug Prince Rock, the floodlit dragon rose over Plymouth Sound. The Lost Sound, a local a cappella ensemble, provided the musical score for the creature's sleeping and airborne moments.

Leading the Platinum Jubilee Procession

On 5 June 2022, The Hatchling took centre stage in central London, leading a procession of five thousand street performers down The Mall as the opening act of The Queen's Platinum Jubilee Pageant. The Guardian had flagged the dragon as the centrepiece of the celebration, which told the story of Queen Elizabeth II's seventy-year reign through street theatre, dance, circus acts, and marching bands. As the dragon curiously and playfully explored the Mall, intricate kites and long flowing ribbons unfurled from its wings, evoking a sense of flight and collective celebration. The most poignant moment came when the Hatchling encountered Singaporean dancer Janice Ho, who performed a piece embodying the Queen and symbolising the weight and responsibility of the throne. The encounter was broadcast live on BBC news, and the sequence served as a herald for the full pageant parade guiding the crowd toward Buckingham Palace. For a city accustomed to grand ceremonial, the sight of a twenty-metre puppet dragon weaving through thousands of performers brought an extraordinary blend of colour, movement, and theatrical storytelling to the heart of London.

A Global Symbol for Unity and Freedom

Artistic director Angie Bual framed The Hatchling as far more than a spectacle; it was conceived as a meditation on cultural diversity, openness, and unity. The dragon, she noted, appears in the mythology of every ancient culture on Earth, yet its meaning shifts dramatically across traditions—revered and respected in eastern storytelling, often cast as menacing in western folklore. By choosing this globally resonant symbol, the project invited audiences to celebrate shared humanity over difference and to confront questions of migration and freedom of movement. This thematic intent was woven into the Plymouth premiere, which was explicitly linked to Mayflower 400 and its exploration of tolerance, home, and the right to move freely. Bual emphasised that the power of public art to unify communities had never been more urgent. The flight over Plymouth Sound, described as an uplifting symbol of freedom, crystallised this vision: a creature born from collective human effort, rising above the water, belonging to no single tradition but to all of them at once.

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