Janni Younge is a director and producer of multimedia, theatrical and visual performance works, with an emphasis on puppetry arts. Janni’s work has been performed widely internationally in North and South America, Africa, Europe, India and the East. Recognition awards include the Standard Bank Young Artist Award for Theatre, several Fleur du Cap awards for puppet design and the Nagroda award for direction.

A director of Handspring Puppet Company for four years, she currently runs Janni Younge Productions. She concurrently directs UNIMA SA (SA Puppetry) an organization that works for the development and training of visual performance artists and also focuses on SA social development through visual performance mediums.

Janni’s works include the creation and direction of Ouroboros (which toured extensively in South Africa, Europe and India), The Firebird that toured in the USA to venues including Ravinia and the Hollywood Bowl, and Take Flight, currently touring Europe. With Handspring, Janni also directed revivals of William Kentridge’s Woyzeck on the Highveld and Ubu and the Truth Commission and, with Handspring, worked on War Horse and on the Bristol Old Vic’s Midsummer night’s Dream. She created and directed puppetry for the Royal Shakespeare Company’s Tempest. Janni is a graduate of the French national school of puppet theatre, has a B.A. in Fine Art and an M.A. in Theatre.