Prayers for a Hungry Ghost at Tobacco Factory Theatres, Bristol
“★★★★ Utterly intoxicating” -Everything Theatre
“★★★★ Evocative, hard-hitting, haunting” -Broadway World
People of Theatre – Top 25 Shows of 2025
5 Nominations Fringe Theatre Awards, including Best Play, Best Ensemble, Best Production
Transferring from a sold out run at the Barbican in fall 2025, KISS WITNESS’ latest production is a mesmerising family drama set in the underworld (the realm of the hungry ghosts), exploring the intergenerational trauma born from the pressures of meeting society’s impossible standards.
This sardonic yet tender ensemble production powerfully combines horror, physical performance, live cinema, dark comedy and Chinese mythology – in which ‘hungry ghosts’ are reincarnated souls of those who were greedy or violent in their lives. In the nightmarish underworld of hungry ghosts, a migrant family confronts the true cost of their pursuit of the American dream. Mother migrated from a life of poverty in Hong Kong to become a capitalist success story. Meanwhile, his daughters’ lives spiral in opposite directions: Little Sister ascends to classical piano stardom, while Big Sister is ravaged by a mysterious illness. Each path eventually leads them to the same pit of despair and insatiable hunger, unless their familial bond can somehow transcend the cycle of inherited trauma.
KISS WITNESS harnesses the visceral power of horror as a genre to expose the intergenerational trauma that lies beneath the surface of ‘model minority’ narratives.
Cast and Creatives
Elisabeth Gunawan
Vinna Law
Sook Kuan Tang
Ting-Ning Wen
Writer: Elisabeth Gunawan
Directing Team: Elisabeth Gunawan, Matej Matejka, Sook Kuan Tang, Namoo Chae Lee
Movement Director: Matej Matejka
Sound & Music: Li Yi Lei
Set & Video: Erin Guan
Puppetry: Aya Nakamura
Lighting Designer: Natalia Chan
Costume Designer: Ezra Barnard
Props & SFX: Elisabeth Gunawan
Stage Manager: Hui Tse Liu
Photography: Ikin Yum
The Story Within Youth
Creative workshops designed for young people aged 12-18 who are interested in storytelling through creative means but have little to no arts experience. They would engage with performing, visual art and writing exercises over the workshops to discover their creative voices and stories they would like to tell.
Scritches #4
Four short plays by Andy Boyd, James Labella, Oscar K, Luz Lorenzana Twigg with direction by Lilly Butcher, Aaron Chote, Kim Pierce, & Josh Bryant Jones
Seedlings: A Climate Festival for the Curious and Hopeful
New Earth Theatre presents a devised work-in-progress piece, inspired by The Nutmeg’s Curse by Amitav Ghosh, taking in the stories of our natural environments and our non-human peers, to explore how these shape our views and actions in a world in crisis.
Apocalyptic Yesterday
The exhibition uncovers the layers of this apocalyptic reality, exploring themes of decay, disillusionment and the human condition in the face of impending doom. A world perpetually teetering on the brink of collapse. It’s as if the apocalypse has already arrived, masked by the illusion of progress and prosperity.