Tao of Glass

Phelim McDermott is a founder member of Improbable and the company’s co-artistic director.

In addition to Tao Of Glass Improbable credits include: 70 Hill Lane; Lifegame; Animo; Coma; Spirit; Sticky; Cinderella; The Hanging Man; Theatre of Blood (in collaboration with the National Theatre); Panic; Beauty and the Beast (in co-production with ONEOFUS); The Tempest (a co-production with Northern Stage and Oxford Playhouse); Opening Skinners Box (a co-production with Northern Stage and West Yorkshire Playhouse); Lost Without Words (a coproduction with the National Theatre), My Neighbour Totoro (RSC and Nippon TV at Barbican) winner of six Olivier Awards including Best Director and best Entertainment of Comedy Play and five Whats On Stage Awards also including Best Director.

Opera credits with Improbable include: Philip Glass’s Satyagraha (ENO, LA Opera); The Perfect American, the Olivier Award-winning Akhnaten, Mozart’s Così fan tutte (ENO and Metropolitan Opera, NY); Aida (ENO) and; BambinO, an opera for babies (originally co-produced with Manchester International Festival and Scottish Opera, now with LA Opera); The Hours (Metropolitan Opera).

Other productions as director include: the Olivier Award-winning Shockheaded Peter; Alex (The Arts Theatre); The Ghost Downstairs (Leicester Haymarket); Dr Faustus, Improbable Tales (Nottingham Playhouse); The Servant of Two Masters, The Hunchback of Notre Dame; The Government Inspector (West Yorkshire Playhouse) and Artistic Collaborator on She’s Leaving Home (produced by 20 Stories High).

In 2003 Phelim was awarded a National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts (NESTA) fellowship to research new ways of rehearsing and creating theatre using improvisation and process-oriented conflict facilitation techniques. As part of this work he has facilitated many Open Space Technology events. He was made an Honorary Doctor of Middlesex University in 2007.

Sarah Wright is a puppeteer, puppetry director and teacher. She is founder and Artistic Director of Curious School of Puppetry. Sarah trained at the Little Angel Theatre (founded by her parents in 1961) and has worked extensively within physical and puppetry-based theatre ever since.

As puppeteer/performer: Original cast of Tao of Glass, Animo (Improbable). Venus and Adonis (RSC/LAT/Bewdley Street Productions). Dead Dog in a Suitcase (and other love songs), The Tin Drum, A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings (Kneehigh). Silent Tide, The Adventures of Curious Ganz (Silent Tide). Plucked, Fish Clay Perspex (Liz Walker/Faulty Optic). Life of Galileo (Young Vic, Dir. Joe Wright). The Soldiers Tale, The Fisherman and his Soul, Little Mermaid (Little Angel).

As puppetry director: Spirited Away (Toho Stage/PW Productions as Associate Puppetry Director), Maddaddam (Wayne McGregor), Wild Bride, 946, FUP, Hansel and Gretel (Kneehigh), The Little Matchgirl (Emma Rice Company), Sleeping Beauty (Mathew Bourne’s New Adventures), A Season in the Congo (Young Vic). Angelo (Little Angel)

Film and TV includes: The Dark Crystal Age of Resistance, Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Pistol (Danny Boyle), Princess and Peppernose, Cyrano, ‘M’ Son of the Century (Joe Wright).

Janet trained on the Acting and Contemporary Theatre Course at East 15 Acting School, Essex. She most recently reprised her role as Morai/Puck in the Olivier Award Nominated production of Rough Magic, (Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre)

THEATRE CREDITS: A Streetcar Named Desire ( Almeida Theatre, Noel Coward Theatre & Brooklyn’s BAM Harvey Theatre, New York), Princess Essex, Rough Magic, Henry VIII and I, Joan (Globe); Box Of Delights (RSC); An Improbable Musical (Royal & Derngate); Tao of Glass (Royal Exchange Manchester/Perth Festival/Skirball, NYU); Satyagraha (English National Opera); The Language of Kindness (Shoreditch Town Hall/UK Tour); Reasons to Stay Alive (ETT/Sheffield/UK tour); Dinomania (New Diorama); Love (National/Armory/Birmingham Rep/International Tour); Gastronomic (Norwich Theatre Royal); The Scar Test (Soho); A Cracked Plaster Sky (Omnibus); The Love I Feel is Red (Tobacco Factory); Doing the Idiots (National Studio); Sealand (Arcola); Shemehe (National Theatre of Georgia, Tbilisi); The Spanish Tragedy (Old Red Lion); The Four Minute Mile (Oxford Playhouse); Beyond Caring (Yard, National/Birmingham Rep).

FILM CREDITS: Shoobs; Love; Cold; The Kids Are Alright; Turn On, The Souvenir; Expecting.

TV CREDITS: Casualty, Emmerdale, Doctors, The Tower.

WRITING CREDITS: Mkpa Mbiet [Dead Grass] (Southwark Playhouse/Arcola/Oval); The Coconut Series (Alchemist’s ‘Writers On Hold’ Online Festival); Kim 2.0 (Arcola ‘Today I’m Wiser’ Festival)

Janet is the recipient of Best Actor awards from Sipontum Arthouse, Boston Independent Film Awards, New York Independent Cinema Awards, California Indies, Hamburg Indie Film Festival, and Nashville Independent Filmmakers Festival.

He trained at École Philippe Gaulier, and has been making theatre for over 35 years, nationally and internationally, working with companies including English National Opera, The Metropolitan Opera (New York), The Kirk Douglas Theatre (Los Angeles), Improbable Theatre (Satyagraha), Tim Crouch,(The Author, An Oak Tree), Little Bulb Theatre Company (Mountain Music, Four Seasons), and Shakespeare at the Tobacco Factory.(As you like it)

His third solo show, No One is Listening (a Ghost Story), recently completed a South West tour. Previous solo work includes Edinburgh hit The Castle Builder (with Kid Carpet) and A Little Death (Bristol Old Vic).

He has performed at major festivals worldwide, including the Edinburgh International Festival, Just for Laughs (Montreal), Melbourne Comedy Festival, Oerol Festival (Netherlands), and the Charleville-Mézières World Puppetry Festival (France).

In 2026 he formed a new company Em&Vic Theatre.

Andrew is a British/Japanese actor and puppeteer from London whose exciting career spans stage, screen and voiceover.

Andrew has worked his way from pub theatres and profit-shares through to massive multi-award winning shows and tours. He has just finished working on the sold-out Tokyo Nights show and also recently returned from a record-breaking European tour with rock band Sabaton.

He previously worked with Phelim on the wildly successful My Neighbour Totoro for which he was a principal character, puppeteer and original cast member. Although he stepped away from the show after two sold out seasons at the Barbican, it continues to surprise, enchant and amaze audiences in its new home in the West End, justifying its six Olivier Award wins from nine nominations.