Puppets Can Speak Louder Than Words

The last show of MTYP’s 2025/26 season is Otosan from Little Onion Puppet Company (Vancouver, BC). We asked Otosan creators Shizuka Kai and Randi Edmunson about the unique things puppetry can achieve as a storytelling medium, and Shizuka Kai’s real-life childhood experiences that inspired the show.

Father and daughter relationships aren’t explored nearly as much in our cultures as mother/daughter ones. Was that a factor in your decision to create this show? And if it was, tell us why?

The main inspiration to create the show came from Shiz herself, and the stories she had about her dad’s videography work in the Arctic. Intuitively, she thought that her experience would make a great puppet show. Early in our creation process, we had great conversations about each of our childhood experiences with our dads. We really felt a kinship between one another, recognizing some of the struggle and also the joy of our relationships with our dads. While it wasn’t really an early factor in our decision to create the show, honouring the father-daughter relationship in this story became central to our creative process. – Randi

Why do we all love puppets so much? What can they express that humans can’t? Is it easier to display emotions through puppets?

Our philosophy is that puppetry is unique amongst the performing arts in the way that it draws the audience into the story. First of all, the audience has to choose to believe that the puppets, which they know are not living actors, do in fact live, breathe, and make decisions. Right away, they make a big investment in the experience. Then, because the puppets in our show don’t speak, the audience has to do extra work interpreting what is happening on stage. They need to pull from their own life experiences to make sense of the story and the emotions of the characters – we think this means that the audience has an even closer, more personal experience watching a puppet show than a regular theatre performance. The other fabulous thing about puppets is that they can do absolutely anything, as long as the audience believes. In our story, we slow down time and create moments of magic that can’t happen in real life, all things we can do because we’re working with puppets. – Randi

The father is clearly affectionate toward animals, but less so to his daughter. Is this a factor in her wanting to see the world through his eyes?

I don’t think the lack of affection is what drives her to see his world. The lack of affection, or rather, the different type of affection, is fairly common in Japanese and most Asian cultures. Instead, what I think drives her to sneak into his suitcase is her curiosity and her passion for animals. She also wants to help Otosan achieve his dream and get a sort of recognition or acceptance… and perhaps to spend more time with him. In our creation process, we decided that the story would be told through her eyes and how she perceived the experience with her dad, so it’s interesting to see how you have interpreted the show! – Shiz

This line gets me every time. I think this is all of us. Can you tell us how this show connects us? “This story is for anyone who has struggled to find the words to connect with the people they love.” – Shizuka Kai, creator.

I think we all, to some extent, have challenges in truly connecting with our family and often that can be our dads. But what I learned in this process, and in my life, is that love and affection can change their shape in any which way in how it is received and how it is given. And when you take the moment to observe that shape in different people around you, you can also recognize when the connection shifts. – Shiz

We see a daruma doll in the photos. Does it have symbolic meaning to the show or family?

Yes! A daruma is typically purchased or gifted with two blank eyes, and before you display it in your house, you would make a wish and fill in one of the eyes. This would normally be a fairly big wish like a life goal, graduating from university, achieving an award, etc. Once the goal is achieved, you fill in the other eye to mark that achievement. – Shiz

Otosan opens in MTYP’s Richardson Studio Theatre on April 24 and runs until May 17. Click here to get tickets online, or call our box office at 204.942.8898!