The Little Angel puppet theatre behind the scenes - in pictures

Lyndie Wright, the founder of Little Angel Theatre, works on puppets at her workspace in the Little Angel workshop. Lyndie founded the Little Angel in 1961 with her husband John Wright; their son is the film director Joe Wright Photograph: Lynette Shanbury/Little Angel Theatre

Wright, the founder of Little Angel Theatre who was recently awarded an MBE for her service to puppetry, is responsible for the set and puppet design. This is her original model for the set of A Very Old Man, from which the rest of the design was built Photograph: Lynette Shanbury/Little Angel Theatre

Each head and pair of hands are individually hand carved from wood. They all have their own personalities – and abilities Photograph: Lynette Shanbury/Little Angel Theatre

A character called Blue Boy. His body is made from wood, with leather joints Photograph: Lynette Shanbury/Little Angel Theatre

Blue Boy finished and fully painted in the workshop Photograph: Lynette Shanbury/Little Angel Theatre

A puppetmaker sewing on foam jointing to the character that plays the Child’s mother Photograph: Lynette Shanbury/Little Angel Theatre

This character is called Nosey – a village busybody Photograph: Lynette Shanbury/Little Angel Theatre

Puppets at an early stage of development in the workshop. For this production over 40 crabs – which loom large in the original story – were made, each taking at least two days to create Photograph: Lynette Shanbury/Little Angel Theatre

One of the characters – topical, currently – is a banker ... Photograph: Lynette Shanbury/Little Angel Theatre

Márquez's magical-realist story tells how a village is stunned by the arrival one day of a Very Old Man with wings. Villagers and tourists rush to see Photograph: Lynette Shanbury/Little Angel Theatre

The Host of Angels with their halos covered in gold leaf. Over 30 angels feature in the show; each has individually hand carved faces with different features Photograph: Lynette Shanbury/Little Angel Theatre

The dog is made of foam, covered in glove leather and painted. Unlike the other puppets he contains no wood, for lightness and flexibility Photograph: Lynette Shanbury/Little Angel Theatre

Chicken on a wire, one of the 15 trick puppets in the show Photograph: Lynette Shanbury/Little Angel Theatre

Finally, the star of the show ... A character stricken by illness goes to the Very Old Man to be healed. A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings is on 3–19 January at Battersea Arts Centre, London
Photograph: Lynette Shanbury/Little Angel Theatre