The PUK Puppet Theater celebrated its 30th Anniversary in November 2001. Standing at the heart of Tokyo, in Shinjyuku, the theater was Japan's first modern theater built specifically to stage puppet plays. Each year, the theater presents approximately 10 different plays, with performances on more than 120 days (plays for families, and plays for adults that run for 10 or more days). Since 1971, the theater has also hosted some 50 performances by outstanding puppet theater troupes from throughout the world, such as Percy Press and his Junior (Great Britain), Albrecht Roser (Germany), Dick Myers (U.S.A.), Jim Gamble (U.S.A.), Jean-Paul Hubert (France), Richard Bradshaw (Australia), Central Puppet Theater-Sofia (Bulgaria), and State Puppet Theater-Varna (Bulgaria). 　　For the 30th Anniversary performance, Ms. Todorka Rouskova of Bulgaria was invited to direct the Puppet Theater PUK troupe's reinterpretation of Flight with Gloves, which was extremely well-received. The Marriage of the Souls, a monodrama performed by Mr. Sim Woo-Sung, topped off the program. The National Puppetry Monodrama Contest was also held. 　　In addition to these puppet plays, the theater program also featured Portuguese guitar, French chanson, and Japanese drum concerts, and variety shows. 　　Private theaters like the PUK Puppet Theater receive no financial support from the government. Altogether the PUK group comprises three independent companies: the Puppet Theater PUK troupe, the PUK Puppet Theater, and STUDIO NOVA (the visual section). While these three are operated separately, they also cooperate with each other in their various projects and activities. back