About the ensemble
Nori Sawa began his professional career as a European puppeteer in 1992, when the Japanese Ministry of Culture supported him and allowed him to travel to Europe. Since then he has lived in Prague and frequently travels between Japan and the Czech Republic. He has performed his solo shows in more than 25 countries. He is an annual guest at international theatre festivals in Europe, Asia and America.
The performances can tell the great stories of world drama in the language of puppet theatre: the Cherry Orchard, Macbeth or King Lear. No words, just movement, music, puppets and the play of lights. This style is also inherent in the Japanese legends of Nori's childhood, of Princess Kaguya, Ninjas and the fisherman Urashima. Nori's fairy tales, especially for children, are entertaining, magical, shining like bright diamonds in a black forest.
Nori regularly teaches and leads workshops in schools in Europe, America and Asia, e.g. DAMU (CZ), Stanford University, University of Chicago, Northwestern University (USA), London Puppetry School (UK) and others. Workshops are aimed at different age groups from children, to young and older professionals and seniors.
Nori is a member of UNIMA (International Puppetry Union), winner of the Franz Kafka Award (1999), has one daughter Maria and many suitcases full of puppets.
About the show
Have you ever swam in the sea with a fish that can change shape? And do you know which is faster, the hare or the turtle?What happens when a Japanese wolf who knows HARA-KIRI meets three little pigs? And do you know the touching story about the little mermaid?
Puppeteer Nori Sawa shows well-known fairy tales in his own, spiced-up version. The performance consists of several short individual fairy tales. Some of the stories are inspired by traditional fairy tales, others tell legends from Japanese mythology, and occasionally Nori makes up new tales altogether.
