Except for the performance ‘The Prince of the Sea and the Prince of the Earth’,  there will also be a Week of the Japanese Puppet Theatre: The Spirit of the Japanese Puppet 19.09. - 28. 09.2019 in Plovdiv and Sofia. Two puppet shows from Japan will be presented: Contemporary ones by Puk Theatre, and the traditional National Bunraku Theatre.  

Programme for the Week of the Japanese Puppet Theatre: The Spirit of the Japanese Puppet 19.09. - 28. 09.2019 in Plovdiv and Sofia.

"TOPOGRAPHY OF THE JAPANESE PUPPET" BY PUPPET THEATRE PUK AND HACHIOJI KURUMA –NISHIKAWA KORYU TROUPE FROM TOKYO (21.09.2019 STATE PUPPET THEATER PLOVDIV)
The show presents four stories in a different style traditional puppet theater.
1. SANBASO - is a tandem dance introducing a prayer for the success of the show.
2. HIDAKAGAWA-IRIAIZAKURA - tells of a man who has loved and abandoned his beloved, and she has become a snake because of her broken heart.
3. Kappore - a comic dance based on a popular song and created in 1830.
4. Shishimai-Lion dance - the dance of the Lion - one of the most popular dances of mythological animals in Japan, practiced for more than 1000 years specifically for the New Year.

"THE PRINCE OF THE SEA AND THE PRINCE OF THE EARTH"
A performance inspired by traditional Japanese puppet art. The performance will be presented on September 19 in Plovdiv and on September 22 in Sofia. 
The puppet-theater performance 'The Prince of the Sea and the Prince of the Earth' created specially for the programme is inspired by the traditional Japanese Bunraku theatre, based on the famous story of the two brothers whose love for the Dragon princess of the Ocean gave birth to the first Japanese emperor – a classic Japanese legend for love, trust, the given word and meaning of life.
Director - ELENA PANAYOTOVA
Set design – YULIANA VOIKOVA NAIMAN
Choreography - ROSSEN MIHAYLOV
Music - ASEN AVRAMOV
Live musicians - MARINA VELIKOVA AND YORDAN VICHEV
Cast - Natalia Vasileva, Mihaela Andonova, Mariya Dimitrova, Daniela Teneva, Dimitar Nikolov, Velizar Evtimov, Viktor Boytchev, Rumen Karamanov and Aleksandar Karamanov.

THE SPIRIT OF THE JAPANESE BUNRAKU PUPPET - PRESENTATION OF THE NATIONAL BUNRAKU THEATER FROM OSAKA (SEPTEMBER 27 IN SOFIA AND SEPTEMBER 28 IN PLOVDIV)
Performance and lecture of the Japanese traditional puppet theater for adults Bunraku, who will present for the first time in Plovdiv and for the second time in Bulgaria by four puppeteer masters, an excerpt from a popular Bunraku play and will familiarize the audience with the features of each of the elements of the Bunraku Puppet Theater style
With the participation of:
Mr. Masayuki Konishi
Mr Kazuhiko Maeda
Mr. Yuya Ohbitsu
Mr. Kei Saito
The National Bunraku Theater in order to preserve, develop and transmit the art of the Bunraku style puppet drama, one of the three traditional Japanese theatrical arts, along with Noah and Kabuki listed on the UNESCO World Heritage List, combines three main elements -  narrator, musician and puppeteers. The Bunraku puppet style is a sophisticated art scene for adults that recreates dramatic human emotions - and this makes it different from other puppet theatrical forms around the world.
Picture © Atanas Kanev
The project is part of the FOCUS: Japanese Culture Programme, which is implemented in partnership with the EU-Japan Fest Foundation. The performance is part of the project "The Spirit of the Japanese Doll: Creation of a Puppet Theater Performance and the Exchange of Japanese Artists" and it is implemented by the State Puppet Theater Plovdiv. The Week of the Japanese Puppet Theatre is part of the anniversary celebrations "30 Days of Japanese Culture in Bulgaria" organized by the Embassy of Japan in Bulgaria with the support of 'DEN GRI' foundation.

https://plovdiv2019.eu