Series of Japanese Authors 4 -- Shogo Ohta (English) / ACM Theatre, ATM

Series of Japanese Authors 4 -- Shogo Ohta
For reservations and information, please call (029)225-3555.

"Contemporary Theater Resonating with Many Voices"

Shogo Ohta
Photo: K. Ichikawa

Four plays by the playwright Shogo Ohta will be presented by the ACM Theatre over five weekends from Oct. 3 (Sat) to Nov. 8 (Sun).

ATM's Series of Japanese Authors was initiated in 1995, and the upcoming installment of the series in October and November will feature Shogo Ohta. Coming from the same generation as Juro Kara, Kunio Shimizu and Minoru Betsuyaku, Ohta led the dramatic troupe Tenkei Gekijo ("Transformational Theater") in the 1970s and 1980s. The group, performing mainly in small theaters, developed a unique style known as the "silent drama." Tenkei Gekijo also made many tours abroad.

In ATM's Series of Japanese Authors 4, four producers (including Ohta) and four dramatic troupes will present new adaptations of this playwright's contemporary dramatic works. During the same period, various related events will also be held, including symposia as well as exhibitions of Tenkei Gekijo posters and stage photographs.

General ¥3,000
Groups (10 or more) ¥2,700
7th to 12th graders ¥1,500
4-performance ¥10,800
All seats reserved. Tickets go on sale on Aug. 28 (Fri) for Tomo-no-kai members, and Sep. 1 (Tue) for everyone else. All non-general admission tickets (groups, etc.) can be purchased only at the ATM Ticket Center/Counter.
For reservations, please call at (029)225-3555.

"*Mizu no Eki*"
Photo: Katsuaki Furudate

Mizu no Eki -- 3 ("Water Station No. 3")
Oct. 10 (Sat) 7:00 p.m.
Oct. 11 (Sun) 4:00 p.m.
All seats reserved.
Written/conceptualized/directed by Shogo Ohta.
Performed by Engeki Jimusho UZURA.

Representative of Ohta's "silent drama" works, a genre that he helped found, and one of the most highly acclaimed modern dramatic works by overseas critics. Ohta himself has "remade" the production for this performance.

Shogo Ohta:
Having passed through five "stations" since 1981 -- Water, Earth, Wind, Sand, and Water 2 -- I have now reached the sixth station of my career, Water 3. In the past 17 years, I have performed in 26 cities worldwide. But even more than that geographical kind of travel, my journey through time over those years has been a kind of trip through different periods. In that journey I have continuously sought to define and refine the slow-tempo, silent style of drama. The sixth station -- Water 3 -- will be the last of my stops involving water. I would like you to see how my dramatic style strives to survive in the midst of the changing age. By the way, my next stop is "Fire."

"*Komachi Fuden*"
Photo: Katsuaki Furudate

Shinpan Komachi Fuden ("New Version -- Komachi Fuden Story")
Oct. 3 (Sat) 7:00 p.m.
Oct. 4 (Sun) 4:00 p.m.
Free seating.
Written by Shogo Ohta.
Conceptualized/directed by Oriza Hirata.
Performed by Gekidan Seinendan et al.

A monumental work that made use of the Noh stage for the first time in modern drama, and recipient of the Kishida Kokushi Drama Prize. Oriza Hirata's adaptation of the play boldly recreates a giant maze-like apartment building within the ACM Theatre.

Oriza Hirata:
I am often asked how I plan to produce Komachi Fuden ("Komachi Fuden Story"). Since the production this time is prefixed by the word Shinpan ("New Version"), I plan to put on a completely new work. A better way to understand it is to think of the current production as a new play, one that I have written based on the original Komachi Fuden, seen as a poem. There are many plays based on novels or poems (or which derive their motif from them), so why shouldn't a play be based on another play? That is what I am attempting with Shinpan -- Komachi Fuden.

"*Yajirushi*"
Photo: Katsuaki Furudate

Yajirushi ("Arrow")
Oct. 17 (Sat) 7:00 p.m.
All seats reserved.
Written by Shogo Ota
Conceptualized/scripted by Hiroyuki Inoue and Yuki Moriya.
Directed by Yuki Moriya.
Performed by u-Field et al.

A work that must be seen to understand the dramatic world of Ohta's " shape-transformational drama" phase.
The presentation of Yajirishi this time constitutes part of a three-work trilogy that is rounded out by Mizu no Kyujitsu ("Water Holiday") and "Element."

Yuki Moriya:
Of Ohta's trilogy -- Yajirushi ("Arrow"), Mizu no Kyujitsu ("Water Holiday") and "Element" -- the play that has been rearranged this time is Yajirushi. As these works were composed making use of other people's quotes, we can say that Ohta is more of a "word hunter" (i.e., critic) than a playwright. His words are by no means meant to serve the drama, but are left on the stage together with the actors' live bodies. The actors thus do not embrace the words, nor do they cast them off. Instead, the actors are supposed to stand on the stage unencumbered, just as if they are enjoying the feel of their conscious sense of touch. I would like to spin the drama of Yajirushi by freely weaving the life-sized consciousness of the ten actors living the "present."

Hirohisa Hasegawa (left), *Gekidan ACM*

Shi no Bara ("Rose of Death")
Oct. 31 (Sat) 7:00 p.m.
Nov. 1 (Sun) 4:00 p.m.
Nov. 7 (Sat) 7:00 p.m.
Nov. 8 (Sun) 4:00 p.m.
Free seating.
Written by Shogo Ohta.
Conceptualized/directed by Hirohisa Hasegawa.
Performed by Gekidan ACM (Ryo Shiotani, Shinro Sato, Shin Koyasu, Satoshi Natori).

Representative of Ohta's verbal works. Four members of Gekidan ACM act out the more than a dozen characters of the play. For this performance, ACM Theatre will be converted into a "mini-theater" containing only 100 seats.

Hirohisa Hasegawa:
I enjoy the critical statements of Shogo Ohta. Whenever I read his critiques, I always reflect on how to formulate words while being embedded in the world of words. That, to me, is dramatic in an almost mysterious sense. One work of Shogo Ohta that is permeated with critical words is Shi no Bara ("Rose of Death"), which I believe represents a turning point in his dramas. Still, I consider it an excellent critique, so the next time I plan to make a dramatization of Shogo Ohta's critique using Shi no Bara as the text.

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