An Evening of Adult Puppet Theatre That Will Haunt Your Dreams
When the curtain falls on daylight puppet shows, something darker emerges from the shadows. “Puppets After Dark” invites you into a nocturnal realm where strings and silhouettes dance with our deepest fears, desires, and transformations.
“Puppets After Dark” shatters preconceptions about puppetry as children’s entertainment, revealing its power as a medium for adult storytelling. These aren’t just puppet shows—they’re rituals of transformation, explorations of identity, and celebrations of the beautiful darkness that lives within us all.
From shadow play to marionettes, from queer ritual to horror homage, this evening showcases puppetry’s capacity to make the invisible visible, to give form to our formless fears and desires. This is adult content that explores mature themes including mortality, identity, sexuality, and psychological terror.
Prepare to be transformed. Prepare to be haunted. Prepare for Puppets After Dark.
Event Details
An Evening of Adult Puppet Theatre That Will Haunt Your Dreams
When the curtain falls on daylight puppet shows, something darker emerges from the shadows. “Puppets After Dark” invites you into a nocturnal realm where strings and silhouettes dance with our deepest fears, desires, and transformations.
“Puppets After Dark” shatters preconceptions about puppetry as children’s entertainment, revealing its power as a medium for adult storytelling. These aren’t just puppet shows—they’re rituals of transformation, explorations of identity, and celebrations of the beautiful darkness that lives within us all.
From shadow play to marionettes, from queer ritual to horror homage, this evening showcases puppetry’s capacity to make the invisible visible, to give form to our formless fears and desires. This is adult content that explores mature themes including mortality, identity, sexuality, and psychological terror.
Prepare to be transformed. Prepare to be haunted. Prepare for Puppets After Dark.
The Performances:
Dawn Tracey Brandes opens the evening with The History of Horror: A Shadow Puppet Show—a deliciously twisted tour through cinema’s most beloved B-movie monsters. Watch as shadows come alive to celebrate the glorious ghouls and murderous mayhem that have thrilled audiences for decades. (15 minutes of pure nostalgic terror)
Logan Robins delves into the terrifying world of Sleep Demon, where ancient folklore meets modern anxiety in a dark comedy about sleep paralysis. This full-length piece explores the creatures that visit us in our most vulnerable moments, weaving together mythology, technology, and the strange comedy found in our deepest fears. (40 minutes of sleepless nights guaranteed)
Ken Flett & Jonah Rubin-Flett‘s Mourning to Morning is an intimate marionette meditation on immortality, loneliness, and redemption. More than just a vampire tale, this haunting performance explores our universal fear of vulnerability and our eternal search for connection across the centuries. Watch as eternal night gives way to the possibility of dawn. (35 minutes of beautiful darkness)
Cortney Cassidy & Kay Slauenwhite present Phosphena’s Night Out, a multimedia dreamscape that transforms the ritual of getting ready into something magical and strange. Through hand-painted backdrops, synthesizer soundscapes, and stream-of-consciousness storytelling, witness a character’s preparation for the night ahead become a surreal journey of queer identity and self-transformation.
Artist Biographies
Dr. Dawn Tracey Brandes: Puppetry scholar and Instructor at Dalhousie University’s Fountain School of Performing Arts. Her work on contemporary puppet performance has appeared in major publications including The Routledge Companion to Puppetry and Material Performance. She co-edits Canadian Theatre Review’s puppetry edition and serves as Board Secretary of UNIMA Canada.
Ken Flett: Nova Scotia-based artist from Vancouver Island whose work explores themes of love, memory, hope, and loss. Previously represented by Fran Willis Gallery and taught at Metchosin International Summer School of the Arts. His artwork is held in University of Victoria and Camosun College collections. Through puppetry, he makes the invisible visible and honors forgotten stories.
Logan “Lo” Robins (he/they): Queer environmental theatre maker and Artistic Director of The Unnatural Disaster Theatre Co., based in Herring Cove, NS. Creates devised theatre, mask work, and outdoor site-specific performances that connect audiences to nature. Recent works include “Hippoposthumous” and “The Augur.”
Cortney S. Cassidy: Emerging artist working in painting, puppetry and expanded media. Uses bright colors, collaboration, and gender ambiguous forms to explore sense and perception through a queer perspective.
Kay Slauenwhite: Media artist working in sound, installation, video, and collage. Uses collage-based approaches to explore fragmentation and transformation within bodies, systems, and culture.
Jonah Rubin-Flett: High school student working in film, animation, and puppetry. In 2023, he traveled across Canada performing puppet shows and assisting with marionette workshops.
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