Ken Beagley, who has died aged 71, was a puppeteer and educator. He was an excellent maker who always encouraged and involved others. He and I were friends and collaborators for nearly 40 years.
Born in Woking, Surrey, to Beryl (nee Mair), a housekeeper, and Frederick Beagley, a draughtsman, Ken attended Woking grammar school. He studied sculpture at Kingston Polytechnic (1971-74), where he met the artist Don Pavey with whom he later worked on Art Arena games – a team game format designed to develop social interaction and group skills by creating large works of art. At Kingston, Ken also discovered an abiding fascination with the labyrinth and he met Jill Betambeau, whom he married in 1975.
Ken was great at networking and making exciting projects happen. While an undergraduate, he organised many play schemes for local resident groups on the Tolworth estate in southwest London and, when he completed his degree, Kingston social services asked him to join their team of community workers.
In 1977, Jill and Ken, who led a self-sufficient lifestyle, and kept bees and chickens, moved to Bristol to qualify as teachers at the University of Bristol. There, Ken was a founding member of CoLignum, a successful carpentry cooperative, and their daughters, Melissa and Saffron, were born.
In 1985, along with other families from around the country, the Beagleys moved to Harberton in south Devon, seeking alternative education support – they called themselves “the village group”. Ken and Jill started Armchair Puppet Theatre in 1988, which runs superb shadow puppet workshops all around Britain and creates shows with beautifully designed sets. Ken is also remembered for the phenomenal bonfire celebrations and lantern processions he organised in Harberton in the early 90s.
In 1989, he helped me create The Biggest Puppet Show on Earth, working with thousands of children. We also set up a company for participatory artists called The Moveable Feast Workshop Co (2002-12), and Ken was instrumental in founding Creation Myth Puppets (2014), which makes huge shows for schools nationally and internationally.
If Ken believed in a cause, his commitment was absolute. A keen beekeeper, he represented several beekeeping organisations at the national inquiry into GM crops in 2000, travelling to London with a bee puppet in the pocket of his suit. He was deeply involved in the Men’s Movement, and was especially influenced by workshops with the poet Robert Bly – in 1985, Ken co-founded a Devon-wide men’s group that is still going strong 30-plus years on.
From 2015, Ken and I ran labyrinth workshops in communities and schools, the first of which included making a community labyrinth high above Welcombe Bay, on the north coast of Devon. In 2021, when he was diagnosed with an incurable brain tumour, Ken deepened his investigations into the labyrinth. We discussed his insights across his last year and wrote a labyrinth novel as a legacy for our grandchildren.
Ken was a fighter for justice and a joy-bringer who shared his great imagination far and wide. He is survived by Jill, Melissa and Saffron, his grandchildren, Iris, Arthur, Miriam and Asher, and siblings, Mya and Tony.
