9000 Paper Balloons Online streaming in 2022, Performed live in 2023

Co-Creators / Performers: Maiko Kikuchi and Spencer Lott

Director / Dramaturg: Aya Ogawa

Projection System Designer: Jeanette Yew

Lighting Design: Marie Yokoyama

Sound Design & Editing: Ashur Rayis

Associate Projection System Designer: Christina Tang

Stage Manager: Mariko Takizawa

Technical Director: Andrew Murdock

Animator: Maiko Kikuchi

Puppet Design: Spencer Lott

Puppeteers: Amanda Card, Nick Lehane, Andrew Murdock

Builders: Rowan Magee, Dorothy James

Inspired by the real-life Fu-Go campaign—Imperial Japan’s World War II initiative to launch over 9,000 paper balloon bombs across the Pacific—the performance delves into themes of distance: between cultures, generations, and individuals. Kikuchi and Lott intertwine their own family histories into the narrative, creating a surreal collage that reflects on the complexities of war, memory, and reconciliation.

Photo by Richard Termine