Peter Wilson trained as a classical dancer in Hobart, Tasmania. He gave up dance in favour of mime, mask and puppetry. A Churchill Fellowship in 1973 enabled him to study in Tokyo, Moscow and Prague. Further study took him to the USA then to the United Kingdom.
He established the Tasmanian Puppet Theatre in 1971 and remained its artistic director until 1979. In 1979 he was appointed artist in residence in the School of Arts and Design at Curtin University in Western Australia. He then returned to Japan to study classical Japanese theatre.
On his return to Australia he founded Spare Parts Puppet Theatre in Western Australia where he remained until 1996 when he moved to New Zealand. He was founding artistic director of Capital E National Theatre for Children a position he held until 2010. The position and reputation Capital E National Theatre for Children established under his direction is a testament to his commitment to high quality work for children. On leaving Capital E National Theatre for Children he established Little Dog Barking, a theatre company for children and families specialising in Puppet and Mask performance.
Peter’s work has toured internationally to Japan, Korea, China, The Czech Republic, Singapore, Indonesia, the Philippines, Canada and the USA. As well as touring nationally around Australia and New Zealand.
He was a guest director in the Czech Republic, The Sydney Metropolitan Opera, The Western Australian Theatre Company, New Zealand Puppet Theatre, The Marionette Theatre of Australia , Handspan Theatre, Footnote Dance and Java Dance Companies. During 2009 he travelled to Vietnam to study with the Vietnamese Water Puppets. In 2011 he was invited to devise and direct a new contemporary work for the Shanghai Puppet Theatre.
He has created several works for adults, dance works and numerous works for children.
Peter passed away in 2021.