James has worked in Toronto and internationally from the West End/London to Broadway as a puppeteer and performer in an assortment of commercial theatre, various R&D devising projects with large scale puppetry, and as a puppetry consultant both in Canada and the United Kingdom.
Through 2019 he was the swing Voodoo (animatronics) Operator and Voice of Kong in the Broadway production of KING KONG (Broadway Theatre, NYC). Simultaneously, he also served as puppetry consultant for Stratford Festival of Canada's (co-produced by the NAC) production of The NeverEnding Story.
Other credits include Warhorse (Toronto/ Princess of Wales Theatre, North American/Japan tour & West End, New London Theatre productions); Circus 1903 (Las Vegas & Singapore); The Space Between (The Young Vic, London).
He has been trained in motion/performance capture, in England (Sarah Perry:Shapes in Motion), Vancouver (Terry Notary:Animatrik Studio), and in Toronto (Ivan Sherry:MOCAPU), and has worked in the British commercial/advert industry as a puppeteer.
He is a recipient of an Outer Critics Circle Award for Exceptional Artistry and has been part of Tony awarded, Olivier, and Dora winning productions.
James is now working exclusively with Disney Cruise Line as their resident Puppet Specialist. As part of the Creative Team, he is dedicated to the performance of puppetry in theatrical productions across all current Disney Cruise Line shows.
Online: jamesretterduncan.com, https://vimeo.com/jamesretterduncan, @jamesretterduncan
