Not a word is spoken as Sue Harris manipulates her puppets, but the message they portray through their movements can be instantly understood.
Ms Harris first began playing with puppets when she was five.
She soon found she could communicate and entertain easily through them.
"I played with puppets because I was very lonely as a child."
Puppets help people find their voice
For almost 40 years Ms Harris has performed her shows and workshops for audiences as broad as school students to convicted criminals.
Her puppets and their storylines help people open up and talk about troubling experiences they may have had.
They have become conduits of conversation for youths in remand, child abuse victims and domestic abuse survivors.
"It's a tool for expression," Ms Harris said.
"It's allowing them to be one step removed so they can say what they need to say in a safe place."
But sometimes what needs to be shared can't be done with words so movement is used instead.
Ms Harris also uses her puppets to teach carers how to express their feelings.
In these workshops, carers are able to release built-up emotions and frustrations which can occur after looking after people with dementia and mental health conditions.
"People who are in very difficult situations can have a period of time where they can relax, feel safe and not be judged — and that is good medicine," she said.
Helping others heal emotionally
Whether helping abuse victims find a voice or enabling severely disabled children to communicate, Ms Harris said each exchange with her puppets was unique.
She recalled a time a film crew documenting the progress of a child with severe disabilities joined Ms Harris at her workshop.
The child was unable to speak and had difficulties expressing his feelings. Ms Harris began interacting with the child through her puppet.
"There was this absolute communication between the two and [the child] became most animated," she said.
"I was told afterwards that was the most [reaction] they had seen from that child after following him for a month."
Ms Harris said after learning puppetry at an early age and then finding how it could be used as a conduit to help people emotionally heal, she planned on practicing for many more years to come.
"It's always been: 'I have learnt this tool, I have learnt this means of expression, now how can I use it to help other people?'"
