"In the Womb" Performing Arts in Nature - Looking to the Future of the World

This programme is available with English subtitles which automatically appear on the iPod screen.

Japan

Produced by BIRD Theatre Company

This piece is organised by the Toga Cultural Council of Toga Village, Toyama Prefecture, and is produced in collaboration with the next generation of the theatre artists. Young director ITO Masanori deals with MIYOSHI Juro.

In today's IT-oriented society, there is a need for places where people can meet in person, on the basis of diverse values, and where they can interact and exchange not only information but also physical energy. This performance is part of a project in which four creative theatre companies in Toga, Shizuoka, Toyooka and Tottori work together to create a new work in collaboration with the next generation of theatre artists. This piece makes us think about the future in the resonance between the spiritual crisis experienced by the post-war Japanese people and the chaos in the present.

Written by MIYOSHI Juro

Directed by ITO Masanori

Performed by ARAI Keita (DAIRAKUDAKAN), KOHAMA Akihiro (Theatrical company "Short-Range Man Road Missile"/chernozem), YAMAGUCHI Mayu (nanado)

Sound Design: KANEKO Shoichi (DISCOLOR Company)

Lighting Design: ADACHI Naomi

Photograph: bozzo

Video Footage Record: INOGUCHI Koichi

Story

This is a conversational play about two men and a woman buried alive under dim light.
In a cave dug during the war, there is barely any light, no food and no idea how long the air will last.
Why did these three individuals, who had lived through the Second World War, have to come here and die?
And where will their voices reach?

Message from the director

The play In the Womb, which will be performed at the festival, was written by the playwright MIYOSHI Juro in 1949.
Miyoshi wrote the play as his overall response to Japan's defeat in the war, and it tells the story of how each one lived, or failed to live, under extreme circumstances.
To be honest, it is a weighty and suffocating play.
On the other hand, today, we are tormented by the earthquake, the COVID-19 pandemic, and there is even the imminent threat of war.
I hope, in the theatre, you experience how "life" used to be, take a deep breath when you leave the theatre, and think about the "life" you will have in the future.

ITO Masanori

Graduated from Seijo University, Faculty of Literature and Arts, Department of Fine Arts, Ito formed a theatre company, nanado, in 2014 and started working as a director. The company performs in various spaces, such as pear orchards and shrine precincts, as well as in theatres, mainly in Tokyo and Chiba. In recent years, he has created a series on the theme of "dim voices"; in 2021, he performed his one-person play In the Womb at the Toyooka Theatre Competition, for which he received the Outstanding Director Award.

Date & Time

  • Saturday, 1 October, 19:00-
  • Sunday, 2 October, 19:00-

October

Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun
26 27 28 29 30 1 2
3 4 5 6 7 8 9
10 11 12 13 14 15 16
17 18 19 20 21 22 23
24 25 26 27 28 29 30
31 1 2 3 4 5 6

Venue

BIRD Theatre [Theatre]

Admission

Adults: 2,500 yen
Under 18: 500 yen
Elementary School Kids and under: Free

【Host】Toga Cultural Foundation / Japan Arts Council / Agency for Cultural Affairs

【Co-host】BIRD Theatre Company TOTTORI

【Commission】Project Organized or Co-organized by the Japan Cultural Expo for FY2022