Award-winning Japanese shadow puppet company Mochinosha / Book of Shadows return to the Edinburgh Fringe this year to premiere their brand-new show, Book of Shadows. Based on the possibly true story of Madame Blavatsky, Book of Shadows is a visually stunning dark comedy that dives into the surreal world of the occult. We sat down for an exclusive interview with Daniel Wishes and Seri Yanai to learn more about their show.
Book of Shadows premieres at the Edinburgh Fringe, 18:30 at Underbelly Cowgate’s Big Belly, 05 – 30 August 2026 (no show 19-Aug). Tickets here
- Book of Shadows blends occult mythology with dark comedy—how did you land on the tone between genuine mystery and playful scepticism?
The two of us have a shared interest in shows, games and books that are dark, mysterious, dreamlike and also have some humour. We took all the types of stories we personally love and made our own version. For us there is nothing more fun than a show that is like a puzzle, that the audience is figuring out along with the characters. Just like real life, you can look at anything supernatural and decide if you believe something actually magic is happening or if there’s a simple rational explanation.
- What drew you to shadow puppetry as the form to explore ideas of belief, conspiracy, and the supernatural?
Throughout history, there has always been a strong connection between puppetry and the supernatural. Long before puppets were ever used for performing arts, they were used in various religious and magical rituals. They have been used as vessels for spirits, effigies used in sympathetic magic or sometimes used to trick people into thinking they are seeing a god. Any kind of story can be told with shadow puppetry but it’s particularly well-suited for spooky supernatural mysteries.
- The story centres on a sceptical teenager and a self-proclaimed mystic grandmother—how did you develop that intergenerational dynamic as the emotional core of the piece?
My starting point was the relationship I had with my grandmother as a teenager. My real grandmother is absolutely nothing like the character in the show but there is a similar dynamic. There is this person who loves you and is trying to share with you the knowledge that they’ve accumulated throughout their life and it’s precious, but also you need to take it all in with a huge grain of salt.
- How does working in live analogue shadow animation shape your storytelling choices compared to more traditional theatre or digital media?
We write the stories as a hybrid between a film and a play. With shadow puppetry, we can create almost unlimited scenes or characters and cut instantly from one thing to another, so we can make story choices that would be very impractical and expensive in traditional theatre. And after the show, all the characters fit neatly in a cardboard box. The tradeoff is that it’s much more difficult for a puppet to do simple things human actors can do, like walking.
- You’ve described the piece as “a possibly true story”—how important is ambiguity in what you want audiences to take away from it?
Let me state clearly, without any ambiguity, that everything that happens in this show is 100% factually accurate. We portray all the events exactly as they occurred. Am I lying? Probably. Can the show still be true? Possibly. Truth is weird. “Art is a lie that makes you realize that you can’t handle the truth” – Pablo Escobar.
- As a premiere at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, how does the scale and energy of the Fringe influence how you build and present this world?
This is our fifth time at the Edinburgh Fringe but our first time premiering a new show and honestly, it’s scary. It feels like the stakes are higher than ever, and that pressure is pushing us to create the best work we’ve ever made.