After their grandmother passes away, a child suspects they are being pursued by the smoke demon shapeshifter of the old woman’s stories. The Griegol is a gorgeously rendered dark fantasy for older children and adults. Drawing from the techniques of silent film, it combines silhouettes, smoke, puppetry, live music, and live animation. With the operation kept in sight, audiences see both the stage effects and how they are made. Combining hi-fi with lo-fi technology, and the mythic with the everyday, The Griegol is a charming, moving, and wildly inventive work from Trick of the Light Theatre.

The Griegol premiered at the Auckland Arts Festival in 2021, and has since toured around Aotearoa and to the United States.

It is directed by Hannah Smith, and performed by Stevie Hancox-Monk, Paul Waggott, Ralph McCubbin Howell, Elle Wootton, and Tristan Carter, with sound and composition design by Tane Upjohn-Beatson.