Linh Valerie Pham (*1993) is an experimental puppetry and theater artist. Her works have been showcased at Prague City Gallery (Prague), Goethe Institut (Hanoi), A Space (Hanoi), VCCA (Hanoi), The Factory Contemporary Arts Center (HCM City), IFC (Yogyakarta), Brick Theater (New York), and Center for Performance Research (New York), among others. Linh was a resident artist at Rimbun Dahan (Malaysia), Sowing Seeds (India), a fellow of Arts for Good Singapore, as well as one of the commissioned artists at Biennale Matter of Art 2022 in Czech Republic. Linh is also the founder and artistic director of Mat Tran Ensemble, a performing arts collective with a focus on inclusive and socially-engaged practices. More info here
Tran Kim Ngoc (*1978) graduated from The Vietnam Circus School in 1991. For almost a decade, he had worked with Vietnam Circus Federation before joining the production of Lang Toi (Mon Village) as one of its original cast members. As a performer, juggler, musician, he has toured across Europe and Asia.
In 2020, Linh and Ngoc started working together in a team of co-creators and directors for a show called Life Puppets. After two years, the show premiered in April 2023 and has been running regularly at Do theatre, Nha Trang. Afterwards, the duo founded Tolo Puppet Theater Company in late 2023.
In 2020, Linh and Ngoc started working together in a team of co-creators and directors for a show called Life Puppets. After two years, the show premiered in April 2023 and has been running regularly at Do theatre, Nha Trang. Afterwards, the duo founded Tolo Puppet Theater Company in late 2023.
ToLo centers its practices around all the magical, unexpected and/or grotesque possibilities that puppetry arts and object theatre can offer.
Their works have been showcased at Treasure Hill Artist Village, Puppetry Art Center of Taipei, Lize Puppet Arts Colony (Taiwan), Pesta Boneka International Puppetry Festival (Indonesia), Goethe Institut Hanoi, Hanoi Children’s Palace, United Nations International School (Vietnam), Asian Youth Theatre Festival (Laos) and notably, Bangkok International Performing Arts Meeting (BIPAM, Thailand).
