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Ninagawa at the Barbican in May

ロバート — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 16:25:23 +0000

Ninagawa returns to the Barbican Theatre London for 4 days in May (5th to the 8th) in what might be becoming an annual event I hope. I’ve seen the two previous productions, Coriolanus and the kabuki version of Twelfth Night. This time it’s not Shakespeare. It’s a play about the famous swordsman Musashi, the author of the Book of Five Rings.
It’ll be entirely in Japanese with English surtitles. The Japanese is usually difficult and fast, however I found the women’s voices easier to follow and it helped that I knew the English versions of both the previous plays and could even remember some speeches from Coriolanus I had memorised for an exam over 20 years ago. I must re-read Eiji Yoshikawa‘s epic novel so I can follow things a bit easier. It’s a great book, although I believe the play starts where this book ends so maybe I’ll be able to find out what happens to Otsu.
I hope for some great swordplay, the literally blood-spattering finale of Ninagawa’s Coriolanus in the manner of Kurosawa’s Sanjuro was such an impressive image. I have expectations of some skillful stagecraft.

My wife tells me the lead actors are quite famous in Japan and expects there to be lots of Japanese women there because the actor, Tatsuya Fujiwara, is a bit of a heart-throb! You might have seen him as Light in DeathNote. It’s only playing for 4 days and when I booked tickets last night, all the cheap seats were unavailable and a fair amount of the stalls and circle were sold as well. So available seats are from ￡28 to ￡40.

The cheap seats might still be available as freebies if you are under 25 as part of Barbican’s free-B events

Review of the production in Japan.

image from kirainet’s flickr photostream used under creative commons license

D.T. Suzuki Documentary screenings

ロバート — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 20:05:49 +0000

If you have ever read about Buddhism you are certain to have come across the writings of D.T. Suzuki.
I was recently contacted by a director of a film about Suzuki’s life. There are screenings in the UK in November. While the film isn’t in Japanese, I think it will be of interest to people interested in Japanese culture and Buddhism. I’ll let Michael Goldberg tell you himself after the jump.

There will be 3 free public screenings of “A ZEN LIFE – D.T. Suzuki” at universities in the UK next month.

“A ZEN LIFE – D.T. Suzuki” is a 77-minute documentary in English about Daisetsu Teitaro Suzuki (1870-1966) the Japanese lay Buddhist, prolific writer and teacher credited with introducing Zen Buddhism to the West.

With an excellent grasp of English, Daisetsu Suzuki was highly successful at getting Westerners to appreciate the Japanese mentality, and Japanese to see the merit of Western logic. He earned widespread respect for his deep insights into Eastern and Western religions and philosophies. The effect he had on Western psychology, philosophy, religious thinking, and the arts was profound.

A variety of excerpts from Dr. Suzuki’s talks about Zen and Buddhism, Christianity, and psychoanalysis punctuate the film. Inter-faith dialogue and mutual respect were, in his mind, keys to peace. Interwoven with film footage, photos and audio recordings of D.T. Suzuki are interviews of many people who knew him, including Huston Smith, Gary Snyder, Robert Aitken, William Theodore de Bary, Donald Richie, Mihoko Okamura, and Dr. Albert Stunkard, with rare historical footage of Fr. Thomas Merton, John Cage, Erich Fromm, and the voice of Christmas Humphreys.

A pioneer in improving East-West relations, his numerous writings in English and Japanese, translated into many languages, serve as an inspiration even today. Daisetsu Suzuki’s message is all the more important now, in light of contemporary conflicts stemming from divergent ways of thinking.

SCREENINGS IN THE UK

Glasgow
Monday, 23 November, 6:30 pm
Interfaith Chapel, University of Glasgow, West Quadrangle
Screening followed by Q&A with director
No reservation necessary
For further information about the Glasgow screening,
please contact Joan Keenan, Interfaith Chaplaincy,
on 0141 330 5419 or joan.keenan@admin.gla.ac.uk

Manchester
Tuesday, 24 November, 5:15 – 7:30 pm (doors open 5 pm)
Arts Lecture Theatre, Lower Ground Floor, Samuel Alexander Building
University of Manchester
Screening followed by Q&A with director
No reservation necessary for the Manchester screening

London
Thursday, 26 November, 6:30 – 8:30 pm (reception afterward)
Brunei Lecture Theatre, SOAS, Russell Square
University of London
Screening followed by Q&A with director and panel discussion
Please reserve in advance for the SOAS event by contacting
info@azenlife-film.org, ts@soas.ac.uk, or tl3@soas.ac.uk
or call 01442 890882

These events are sponsored by
The Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation
The Great Britain Sasakawa Foundation

2 preview clips can be found on YouTube:

Very truly yours,
Michael Goldberg
Executive Producer / Director
The DT Suzuki Documentary Project
Japan Inter-Culture Foundation
www.azenlife-film.org

Frank Chickens Rides Again!

ロバート — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 11:30:27 +0000

Frank Chickens will be at the Japan Matsuri in Spitafields Market on Saturday 19 September. They expect to be on stage around 1:20 until 1:50.

Practice your singalong with this video of We Are Ninja (Not Geisha) on YouTube.

Nagisa Oshima season at the BFI

ロバート — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 15:16:30 +0000

A season of films by Oshima the director of the infamous Realm of the Senses (愛のコリーダ), and the notable Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence (with a famous soundtrack) is playing at the NFT London from today until the end of October. Details on BFI’s website.

Terracotta Film Festival London

ロバート — Mon, 11 May 2009 12:20:45 +0000

As part of the Terracotta Film Festival at the Prince Charles cinema over the bank holiday weekend, there are three Japanese films being screened.

After School Saturday 23 May 16:15
High Kick Girl Sunday 24 May 18:40
Ghost in the Shell 2.0 Friday 22 May 20:45

Details at the festival site. There are also films from Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Thailand, and Malaysia if you are a fan of Asian cinema.

Thanks to Paul at London Japanese Language Meetup for the heads-up!

Urashima Taro Puppet Show – updated.

ロバート — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 11:48:37 +0000

I was recently sent a press release by Nakamura Aya-san the creator / performer of the interesting puppet performance Urashima Taro. It’s nice to see that the people I write about read my little blog, if a little daunting at times though.
The show has now finished development and is showing at various venues in London.
I saw the show for the first time last May and it should be interesting to see how it has developed.
I can heartily recommend Shunt as a venue and night out, so combine it with seeing this play.

From Nakamura Aya-san

Rouge28 Theatre is presenting the final stage of Urashima Taro. This piece
combines bunraku-style puppetry, Japanese toy theatre, shadows and dramatic
acting to unfold a cruel and sinister tale inspired by an ancient Japanese myth.
It tells the story of a young fisherman who finds himself trapped by some
mysterious ladies.

We have received support from Arts Council England, UK-Japan 150, the Puppet
Centre Trust and Central School of Speech and Drama to develop this final stage
of the piece.

We will be performing Urashima Taro between mid-March and mid-April at Shunt
Lounge, Little Angel Theatre, Horse+Bamboo Theatre Centre and Central School of
Speech and Drama. You can find details bellow.

The performance at the Little Angel Theatre will be followed by a discussion
about the influence of Bunraku on contemporary British Theatre. Guest speakers
will include Nenagh Watson (former doo-cot) and Mark Down (Blind Summit).

Performances:

- Horse+Bamboo Theatre Centre in Rosendale (Lancashire) on Friday the 13th
of March at 7.30pm.

- Shunt Lounge on 25th, 26th, 27th, 28th of March and 1st, 3rd and 4th of
April at 8pm except Saturdays at 9pm. You can not book performances in advance,
all tickets are allocated on a first come first served basis.

- Little Angel Theatre on Thursday the 2nd of April at 8pm.

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Japanese Language Theatre at The Barbican

ロバート — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 15:19:10 +0000

As part of the Bite09 season at the Barbican in London there are two plays that will be performed in Japanese (with English surtitles). Both by Internationally renowned companies.

The first is Shun-kun 春琴 by Complicite.
The lead in Japan was Japanese actress Eri Fukatsu. I presume she reprises the role here.

The other is an adaptation of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night by NinaGawa, Sochiku Grand Kabuki.
I have seen a previous adaptation of Coriolanus by this company and they are impressive stagings. The Japanese feels very fast, possibly because they are trying to fit in a longer text. I found the women easier to understand but I was able to follow the speeches I had learnt at school (in English). The ending was suitably manga-esgue with Coriolanus spraying red arterial blood all over the white costumes in the best tradition of a samurai duel.
This play is Twelfth Night done in the manner of Kabuki. My wife tells me the actor is a very famous Kabuki actor. Judging by the photographs the play gets the full Kabuki treatment. Niwagawa company is very famous and at the time of writing this there aren’t many seats left.

Tickets for these plays are from £10 to £40.

Reality Fiction: Japan Foundation touring film programme

ロバート — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 12:49:43 +0000

The Japan Foundation is sponsoring a film programme of Japanese films inspired by actual events.
In London they will be screened at The ICA from the 6th to the 12th of February.
Tickets are £8 / £7 Concessions / £6 ICA Members.

The programme features six films

- A Chain of Islands (Dir: Kei Kumai, 1965)
- Live Today, Die Tomorrow! (Dir: Kaneto Shindo, 1970)
- Face (Dir: Junji Sakamoto, 2001)
- Chosyu Five (Dir: Sho Igarashi, 2006)
- Now, I… (Dir: Yasutomo Chikuma, 2007)
- Who’s Camus Anyway? (Dir: Mitsuo Yanagimachi, 2005)

The programme will also tour to four other venues in the UK during February and March 2009.
7 to 21 February 2009 – Watershed, Bristol
2 to 5 March 2009 -QFT, Belfast
9 to 19 March 2009 – Showroom, Sheffield
11 to 19 March 2009 – Filmhouse, Edinburgh

Japanese Gems season at BFI Southbank

ロバート — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 09:33:10 +0000

Throughout July the BFI Southbank London are showing classics of Japanese cinema in a season called Japanese Gems. 24 films by eight Kawakita Award-winning Japanese directors are showing.
The films include Ikuru by Kurosawa, Tokyo Drifter and Branded to Kill by Seijun Suzuki, and Onibaba by Kaneto Shindo.
The listings and details from BFI are better than anything I can provide.

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Urashima Taro – Japan-UK 150

ロバート — Wed, 07 May 2008 16:24:27 +0000

Late News (again!)
Tonight until the 10th of May Rouge28 Theatre is presenting a performance of Urashima Taro at Shunt Lounge in London. This is part of the celebrations of 150 years of relations between Japan and the UK, Japan-UK 150. (we’ll forget about the original circumstances though.)
There’s a video clip on Rouge28′s website and the life-size bunraku style puppetry looks very exciting.

I haven’t seen this play yet but Shunt is an amazing club. I’ve played there with Frank Chickens. It’s underneath London Bridge Train station and has the sort of ambience where you’d expect modern day vampires to congregate in it’s crypts!

I believe day membership covers you for the performance and any other events that may be on and there’s a late bar and usually DJ’s so you can make a night of it.

If you miss this at Shunt you can also catch them at the Sprint Festival at the Camden’s People Theatre from Monday 9th to Wednesday 11th of June at 8pm or the Buxton Puppet Festival on Thursday 31st of July at 9pm

You can read the story of Urashima Taro in English and Japanese here.

–update 07May08–
I went along to Shunt last night and I can’t recommend it enough. You really have to go there. (I don’t like crowds so midweek suits me, but even when I’ve been there at a weekend it’s still the sort of place you could talk and doesn’t feel packed.)
It’s London’s most romantic club in an underground/ arty/ grunge/ flickering candles in beer mugs sort of way. You are in for a big surprise when you go through the small door next to the Tube station and down the seemingly endless dark tunnel towards the club. It’s gotten even bigger now they’ve opened up more of the “catacombs” underneath London Bridge.

Urashima Taro
It’s being performed in The Arena off the main bar. It’ll cost £5 on Thursday and £10 Friday and Saturday including entry to Shunt. Get a ticket with your day membership as seats are limited. The venue has a rough fringe feel to it but it works. There are few theatre experiences like this in London.

The play itself…
Unfortunately I feel it’s still in development. I hate to criticise it because I know how difficult theatre is, especially if you are a small operation on a tight budget. Here you have one actor and one stage crew carrying off an hour long show. I wanted to be amazed and excited.

I felt it was a bit monochrome. I think if I didn’t know a little about the Urashima Taro story I might not have been able to follow it. There are four characters, the Narrator, the Mother, Urashima Taro and the Woman under the sea (I presume the Dragon King’s daughter). But Taro is silent and the narrator and Princess meld into one character I feel. There should be more distinction between the characters. I also need to feel empathy or dislike or something for them. There could be more than a re-telling of Taro. I could be left thinking about the nature of seduction, or the changing world, or the duty of a son to his mother. But instead I just felt “is that it ?”
The audience needs to be entertained and challenged.

I feel it needs a bit more theatricality, a bit of spectacle, some colour.
The set’s main element of a fishing net worked well. I feel more could be made of the projections. Especially to add some colour or added layers to what’s going on.
I’d add some backlight, but theatre seems not to use backlight so much. I wonder how much power and lantern stocks were available, or rigging time.

A major element is a small traditional kamishibai puppet show. Even in the intimate space of the Arena this is a bit lost. I’d use projection, maybe live projection, or maybe use flash animation or video to give a technological twist to a traditional form. If there was a bigger budget I’d hire some stage crew and scale it up to life size. But things like this are so much easier as an idea, than trying to make them reality.

What was very successful was the life size Taro. He was operated with skill so despite only being a head and two arms you could sense a full bodies presence. There was also a lovely moment where he refused a drink, the movement was so apt. I would run with this element of the production. It’s what they promote on their website. It was the beginning of the piece I think and probably what people came to see.

I really wish them well.
I will certainly look out for other productions by Nakamura Aya -san. I’m interested in where this puppetry and these traditional forms can go. (I think she also did puppetry in the recent The Twin Stars, which unfortunately I couldn’t get to )