A Game of Candles

In Edo period Japan, a night-time game of one hundred flickering candles and one hundred supernatural tales became a widespread folk phenomenon – Hyakumonogatari Kaidankai. After each teller finished their story, a candle would be extinguished, plunging the room, by small degrees, into a darkness filled with ever more hungry ghosts…

Join storytellers Tim Ralphs and Sarah Liisa Wilkinson, and a host of strange spirits and creatures, as they pay tribute to this unnerving folk custom, sharing stories that haunt them from around the world. Ravenous flying heads; demon masks that possess the wearer; faceless ghosts; goblin-rats, women made of snow; seductive statues; warrior monks; abandoned farmhouses; haunted bridges; mountaintops; and lonely roads…

This will be a hybrid event, meaning you can attend and participate either in-person or as part of an online audience, inviting haunting presences into the theatre and the intimacy of your own homes.

For those of you joining online, detailed instructions will be sent nearer the time for how to join in with the game at home, should you wish. Watch out for them in your inbox. For those visiting the festival in person everything you need will be provided on the night.

If you are attending in person, please ensure you buy the correct ticket type as digital ticket holders will not be admitted.

Performance Length: 70 mins

Access: Wheelchair Accessible Venue, Closed Captions (At-home only), No Jump Scares