Festival/Tokyo
Program Director
Chiaki Soma

This is the launch of Festival/Tokyo.
“Festival” and “Tokyo” tied together with a slash. To us this mark embraces a number of meanings. Festival and Tokyo, Festival or Tokyo, Festival of Tokyo, Festival in Tokyo, Festival for Tokyo, Festival about Tokyo, Festival vs. Tokyo, Festival beyond Tokyo, etc. Ask any number of people participating in the festival what it means to them, and you will get the same number of answers in return. Just like we conceive the slash to include a variation of interplays that do not allow simplification, we seek to be a place of imagination, discussion and sharing. The festival is a platform where new values are created through processes of exchange and dialogue. This is our fundamental concept as we proudly launch the Festival/Tokyo.

The festival is a place where creations by contemporary artists from all over the world gather, works that will most certainly stimulate our sense of imagination by sometimes being extremely provocative, and other times function as a real eye-opener. Most of the artistic expressions gathering here can only be shown under specific circumstances in regard to space and time. This is what is called performing arts. What can the performing arts, a medium that can only be experienced at a certain time and a certain place, provide in an era where manifold media distribute information with ease and at a high speed to the consumers? Where does its strength lie? This is a question we constantly ask ourselves at Festival/Tokyo.

At the launch of the first Festival/Tokyo, we have gathered 19 works, which all seek to reflect this idea in different ways. 14 of the performances are presented by Festival/Tokyo, and 5 performances are co-presented with other theatres in the metropolitan area. Festival/Tokyo produces 3 works, co-produces another 3 works in collaboration with other theatres and theatre companies, and creates 9 new works. In fact more than 300 artists and performers participate in this festival. Including staff and volunteers, the number amounts to more than 500 people, who will all contribute to the festival with their unique talents and skills.

When the Festival/Tokyo 09 Spring program was decided, the keyword “New Real” appeared. How we confront reality, how we illustrate it, and how we can transcend it are universal themes frequently asked by the arts. However, how is this quest illustrated in our contemporary works? In addition to present the “real” as perceived by the artists, the works gathering at Festival/Tokyo further seek to pioneer a new era yet to come. To Romeo Castellucci “real” is a world where beauty and violence are co-existing. In everyday life described by Shu Matsui the “real” is suddenly overturned. Ushio Amagatsu’s transcendental “real”, illustrating “a young boy’s dream” is still sparkling after 30 years. Now it remains to see how these works assembled “here and now” will lead us towards a new “real”.

This time we present a group of works characterized by featuring a number of non-professional actors. The members of Yukio Ninagawa’s Saitama Gold Theater, all above 55 years of age, the female high school students from Shizuoka prefecture appearing in “Transfer Student” directed by Norimizu Ameya, as well as real-life economists, scholars, revolutionaries and workers featured in Rimini Protokoll’s “Karl Marx: Capital, Volume One”, all bring their real life experience to the stage. We can look forward to seeing how their presence will contribute to the altering of the stage atmosphere. In Akira Takayama’s “Sunshine 63” Tokyo’s cityscape and history form the background of the performance, where each spectator is a performer. Through these various performances based on a style that can be labeled “reality documentary”, we can expect to witness a new interplay between theatre and reality.

Meanwhile, based on the clear idea that the festival not only is a place of presentation, but also a place of creation, we create and distribute co-productions in cooperation with other festivals, theatres and companies that share our artistic ambitions. Committing ourselves to the creation and distribution of new works maintaining a cultural diversity and the value of expression, our incentive is to connect Japan to the world and Tokyo to the district. The Japanese-Korean collaboration directed by LEE Youn-Taek, the international collaboration of Oriza Hirata, Sylvain Maurice and Amir Reza Koohestani, and the new work between Shigehiro Ide featuring Thai dancers, all aspiring international collaborations, is brought into view by touring the respective partner countries. Further, Tsuyoshi Shirai’s new choreography is a co-production with the Kyoto Art Center, and Masataka Matsuda’s new work a co-production with the theatre company Marebito-no-kai. This is how we propose a new system of co-productions with theatres and companies based in the district.

Gathering theatre affiliated universities, the “Theater/University 09 spring” seeks to redefine and discuss works reflecting the talents, ideas and processes raised in each of these universities. In the places of nurture we search for the future of theatre. In addition we plan to establish an “F/T Station” at the Nishiguchi Park at the west exit of Ikebukuro station. Ｉｎ cooperation with locals we wish to create a space of dialogue for everyone to come together and experience “the festival as a place”. In addition symposiums, talks and a number of related programs will be held daily, contributing to make the period of the festival a bustling and intense month.

Our contemporary society, where various consciousness issues and values in the city discord, reverberate, and criticize each other, imagine a platform where an expression of our generation’s “real” is revealed. This is what Festival/Tokyo seeks to be. A place open to all people. How many artists, how many participants will gather, and how we share the intense ephemeral moments of the performing arts is yet to be experienced. This is a challenge that is already reflected in all actions of the people engaged in the festival.