FESTIVAL/TOKYO

Summary

OKAZAKI ART THEATRE takes language and movement rooted in everyday life and transforms them into spectacular theatricality. At F/T11 the company presented "Hemispherical Red and Black", a portrayal of the indolent lifestyle of immigrants-cum-Japanese-cum-cows with the presence of a disquieting "dark matter" always lurking in the background. The ambitious play acutely cut through to the manifold problems facing contemporary Japan, from latent discrimination in communities and tension between assimilation and tradition, to the post-Fukushima chaos and U.S.-Japan relations.

Following his trip to a European theatre festival this spring, artistic director Yudai Kamisato has arrived at the theme of "neighbours". What are our criteria when we say, "The grass is always greener on the other side"? What do we know about our "neighbours"? In this new play Kamisato will build a dialogue and encounter with an unknown neighboring country, Korea, where he will do the creative preparatory work. Digesting the fear and confusion of such an "encounter", he will re-examine the relationships of self and other, homeland and foreign country, drawing a new portrait of Japan.