“In a Grove,” a novel by AKUTAGAWA Ryunosuke, is reimagined with Chinese culture and presents the same event recounted differently by three wondering spirits. What is the truth behind the event?
- Artist/Company
- Suzhou Kunqu Opera Theater of Jiangsu [From China]
- Date
- Saturday, 4 October, 19:00-
Sunday, 5 October, 19:00-
*There will be a talkback after the performance on Saturday, 4 October. - Running Time
- 85 minutes
- Venue
- BIRD Theatre [Theatre]
- Price
- Adults: 3,000 yen*
Student discount: 1,000 yen
under 18: 500 yen
Preschool-aged children: Free
*Including one drink voucher for use at the Café - Language
- Performed in Chinese
- Surtitles
- Japanese and Korean
- Mobile subtitles
- English subtitles available on tablet
- Synopsis開く
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Three wandering spirits meet on the Path to the Underworld, arguing and blaming each other. They seek a judgment from the Court of Yama to decide who is right. But since the judge is on leave, the registrar takes over and orders them to reenact the events leading to their deaths.
On that fateful day, a newlywed couple was out for a walk when they met a bandit disguised as a merchant. The bandit tricked the scholar-husband into entering the bamboo grove and lured the wife into his trap. However, each of the three tells a very different version of what happened next.
After hearing their accounts, the registrar writes down three words: Greed, Wrath, and Delusion—suggesting that their fates were shaped by their own thoughts and desires. Yet, the real truth remains unknown, lost like the wind passing through the bamboo grove.
- Cast/Staff開く
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Based on "In a Grove" by Ryunosuke Akutagawa
Peformed by Tang Rong, Lyu Jia, Wang Xin, Shu Liang, Zhou Ying, Wu Jiahui
Musician: Shi Cheng Ji, Wand Kai, Yang Jia Ming, Yuan Guang Zhi, Xin Shi Lin
Stage Staff: Zhang Quan, Wang Fu Jie
- Company's Profile開く
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Suzhou Kunqu Opera Theater of Jiangsu
Suzhou Kunqu Opera Theater of Jiangsu was formerly the Su and Kunqu Opera Troupe of Jiangsu; it insists on pure and ancient traditional patterns of kunqu, and forms its unique characteristic and style during several decades. It has won many wards and honors.
The theater has groomed four generations of performers, numbering over a hundred, with Ji, Cheng, Hong, Yang and zhen as the middle character of their stages names. With collaborative projects and strategic use of artistic and human resources, the theatre has developed not only effective preservation of kunqu as a cultural heritage of China, but also its innovative and well-received productions of grand operas, which include: The Peony Pavilion the Young Lovers’ Edition, The Palace of Eternal Youth, The Jade Hairpin, Beauty Xishi, The Romance of the West Chamber, Bed Full of Scepters and so on.
