State Puppet Theatre - Varna is established in 1952. For the last 55 years, more than 250 productions and 20 000 performances had been staged and watched by more than 8 million spectators in Bulgaria and abroad.

The theatre has a private building on the center of the city - valuable architectural monument, originally adapted in accordance with the needs of a contemporary cultural institution. The building has the area of 2 440 sq. m, where six holes take place: a hole with 200 seats, rehearsing hole, dressing hole, atelier, Museum of Puppets (with 50 seats). The theatre staff consists of 40 people, out of which 14 actors, graduates from the film and drama national academy (NATFÀ), and specialists in art studios, technical cadres and administration.

The theatre offers performances for audience on different age: classical and contemporary plays for kids, humorous and vanguard shows for adults, educational plays for students.

The theatre repertoire reveals the wide opportunities of the means of expression of the puppet art in its different styles: all systems of classical puppets, improvised puppets, shadow theatre, black camera, projection on a screen, plastic and visual effects, etc.

An art experimental studio Shape and Movement started working in the theatre since this season. Its first performance for adults is The Cave And The Shadows. It has become the art event of the year with its unique, visual suggestion.

State Puppet Theatre - Varna has won the Great prize "Golden Dolphin" four times (1978, 1981, 1996, 2005), the Special prize (2002, it had won, not only once, the Varna prize, and also a great number of collective and individual prizes. In the past several years, great national and foreign prizes had been won by the following performances:

- Folklore Fantasies - Varna prize (2002), the prize of audience - Puppet festival, Tolosa, Spain (2003), Best Performance Prize at the 5th Asian International Puppet Festival in Taipei, Taiwan (2004); the performance has been chosen by the State tourist agency to present the Bulgarian culture on the world tourist exhibitions in London (England) -2006, Thessalonica (Greece) - 2006, Moscow (Russia) - 2007, Stuttgart (Germany)- 2007;

- Thumbelina - Best Performance Prize at the 6th Asian International Puppet Festival in Taipei, Taiwan (2005), award for Outstanding Performance at the International Festival of Puppet Theatres - Shanghai, China (2005) award for the best vision of children performances at the International Puppet Festival Three are Too Many, Two - Not Enough, Plovdiv, Bulgaria (2006); two awards at the 13th IPF The Golden Dolphin, Varna, Bulgaria (2005);

- A Story About the Singing Tree - the Great prize "Golden Dolphin" for entire performance and four individual prizes at the 13th IPF The Golden Dolphin (2005);

- The Cave and the Shadows - Varna prize (2007); chosen to present contemporary Bulgarian culture at the international tourist fair in Stuttgart, Germany (2007).

State Puppet Theatre - Varna is one of the most preferred participants in world cultural forums and puppet-theater festivals. It has been a guest artist in almost all European countries - England, Austria, Germany, France, Spain, Switzerland, Poland, Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania, Greece, Serbia, Russia, Turkey, Iran, Algeria, Taiwan, India, Japan, China, US, Cuba, Canada, Mexico, Canary Islands...

A puppet museum has been opened in the theatre in 1985. It is one of a kind and one of the small number of puppet museums in Europe. The exposition presents about 130 theatre puppets and elements of decors of 18 emblematical performances showed from 1952 to 2000. Various techniques, styles, and Bulgarian puppet stage design trends are represented. In 1994 the puppet museum of Varna was presented on a special exhibition in Tolosa, Spain.

State Puppet Theatre - Varna is a host of the prestigious international puppet festival The Golden Dolphin for 35 years. It takes place every three years in the beginning of October in Varna and it is a center of the best achievements of the puppet-theatre art all over the world.