Kwaidan

Aya’s puppet performance based on many ghost stories.

Kwaidan is an award winning show from the acclaimed Rouge28 Theatre. Inspired by Japanese ghost stories and horror movies, Kwaidan is a chilling cinematic and atmospheric experience. It deftly combines life-sized puppets, humanette, shadow and live performance.

Kwaidan tells the story of Haru, a young woman who returns to her abandoned family home after many years of absence. Strange happenings begin as the house seemingly inhabited by spirits and ghosts from the past awaken. As the action unfolds, the memory of a terrible event resurfaces.

Photo: Katarzyna Chmura-Cegielkowska, Peter Boyd and Monika Kita

“Rouge 28 have created something of a classic in the puppetry mystery horror genre.”
Total Theatre

“Kwaidan is an unusual theatrical experience, which succeeds in its attempts to creep the audience out through immersive and unexpected methods.”
Animation Online

“Rouge 28 have created something of a classic in the The transition between humans and puppets is handled marvelously, with fantastic use of the darkness of doorways, the ambiguity of scrims, and the pitch black borders between rooms.”
Life in the Cheap Seats

“The technical skill of human-puppet interaction delivers an unsettling and unique theatrical experience.”
The Upcoming

Tour History

2015	Suspense Festival (London), Prema (Uley, UK), Sevenoaks School (UK)
2016	Norwich Puppet Theatre, Rose Theatre (Ormskirk, UK), Stamford Arts Centre, Norden Farm Centre for the Arts (Maidenhead, UK), Surrey University
2017	Bristol Festival of Puppetry, Bornholm Puppet Festival (Denmark), ANIMO Festival (Kwidzyn, Poland), Lalka Też Człowiek (Warsaw, Poland), Greenwich Theatre (London, UK), Stantonbury Theatre (Milton Keynes, UK), Bath Spa Live, Lawrence Batley Theatre (Huddersfield, UK), Slung Low (Leeds, UK), The University of Sheffield, Forest Arts Centre (New Milton, Hampshire, UK), Pegasus Theatre (Oxford, UK), Salisbury Arts Centre, Deree – The American College of Greece (Athens, Greece)
2019	Festival Mondial des Théâtre de Marionnettes Charleville-Mézières, France

This project is funded by Arts Council England, The Japan Foundation London, The Great Britain Sasakawa Foundation and The Japan Society.

Supported by Norwich Puppet Theatre, Horse+Bamboo Theatre, Metal (Southend), The BPMTG and The National Puppetry Archive.