Bermuda is widely known for cricket, snorkelling, and bright pink beaches, but puppetry, not so much. That may change soon.My brother, Alexander Winfield, could easily be considered Bermuda’s premiere puppeteer.From childhood onwards, he’s performed in a seemingly endless variety of puppet shows, each of them more unique and eclectic than the last. He’s designed his own variety of puppets, in addition to conceiving stories and narratives that often share a dark, sometimes even nightmarish quality, all lightly salted with a skewed sense of humour … Grimm’s fairy tales crossbred with Monty Python.He has performed in England, Canada, France, and Bermuda. In Toronto, he’s made a living at busking, where his street shows have gained their own slice of popularity among the city’s denizens; videos of his improvised skits have popped up all over YouTube.His work has gained the attention of legendary producer Arthur Rankin Jr. But this time, he had the special opportunity of unveiling his offbeat talent amid the glamour and spectacle of the Olympic Games. One of his quirky creations, the Basset, went along for the ride.Q: How does it feel to have performed at the Olympic Games?A: To be precise, I worked for the Greenwich Council, though we worked in and around the Olympics, and were part of the scenery near the stadium. As far as performing as part of the Olympic experience is concerned, it was a lot of fun. It’s a tremendous atmosphere, with thousands of people from all corners of the world rushing in with you to a small area. There were all sorts of challenges, like presenting a show in English to a crowd of enthusiastic children before realising they were part of a Brazilian tour group and have no idea what you’re talking about.Q: What ignited your passion for puppetry?A: Who knows? I’ve loved puppetry since I was a young lad, when I created impromptu puppet shows using teddy bears and bath towels. I was a big fan of the work of Jim Henson when I was growing up, particularly the Muppet movies and The Dark Crystal. I was lucky enough to see the Joe Louis Theatre, a Bangkok puppet troupe, and I was blown away by their traditional Thai puppet technique. Since then, I’ve always had puppets on the brain.Q: Who, or what, is “the Basset?”A: The Basset is Benedict Pooch, and he’s a work in progress. He was conceived as a sort of English Butler type, though with a personality flexible enough to adapt to any working condition he may find himself in. He was built by Mathieu Rene, a Montreal puppet maker who has worked for me in the past.Q: Why a basset hound, if you don’t mind me asking?A: Basset Hounds are awesome, and they tend to have very expressive faces — important facets in puppet design.Q: Do you have a long-term goal as a professional puppeteer?A: To become rich.Q: Are there any particular forms of puppetry, or puppet plays, you enjoy above others?A: I already mentioned Joe Louis; his work is amazing, and the puppets he uses are gorgeous. I tend to lean to more Asian forms of puppetry — Malaysian shadow puppets, and Japanese Bunraku in particular. Puppetry has been widely accepted and practised in many parts of Asia for hundreds of years, this combination of time and competition between experienced peers meant that puppet techniques advanced very quickly there, at least compared to other parts of the world. In terms of modern practitioners, I am a huge fan of Stephen Mottram, a UK puppeteer who comes the closest to being the JRR Tolkien of the puppet world, creating whole worlds out of strange, silent figures. I also love Canada’s The Old Trout theatre. Their ‘Famous Puppet Death Scenes’ is among my top three favourite puppet shows!Q: Have any plans to perform in Bermuda again soon?A: I’m doing some workshops in puppet-building at the BSoA this month, and I’ll be performing a new puppet show of mine called ‘The Other Side’ at a few venues, I hope! ‘The Other Side’ combines live Opera performance with shadow puppet technique, and promises to be something special.Q: Were there any specific race or competitions at the Olympics you particularly enjoyed?A: Women’s volleyball. But that’s what all the boys say. To be honest, I was very impressed with the opening ceremony — it was the first Olympic ceremony I’ve seen that seemed to be poking fun at itself. I’m also curious at how many Quaaludes they fed the Queen before she agreed to be a Bond girl.Q: What can we hope to see next from you?A: We’re working on ‘The Other Side’, which will keep me busy for now. In September I’ll be performing in Luxembourg, which means I’ll be one step closer to my dream of visiting all the ridiculously small countries in the world. I’m working on a couple of adaptations right now — the first is a puppet play version of a Czech novel called ‘War with the Newts’ in which mankind teaches amphibians how to be capitalists. Bad move, that. I’d also like to work on an adaptation of the famous science fiction story ‘I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream’ and finally I’ve long had a dream of telling the story of Bermuda’s marine life through the adventures of some of Bermuda’s ocean-going heroes, like Teddy Tucker.