Asking questions and
seeking answers to Japan's new reality
Festival / Tokyo – Japan's largest performing arts event –
is to be held this autumn in Tokyo, overcoming the immense obstacles posed by
the March 11th earthquake and tsunami that devastated the country, and along
with its subsequent nuclear crisis have shaken the nation's very social
fabric.
F/T11, the fourth installment of the annual international theatre and dance
festival that last year attracted nearly 65,000 visitors, was in the planning
stages when the catastrophe hit. In the face of much uncertainty the
organizers decided to go ahead and rather harness the power of performance to
create a public forum for debating the grave issues now affecting Japan.
http://www.festival-tokyo.jp/en/
The 10-production program is diverse, including major visiting
overseas giants such as Germany’s René Pollesch and France’s Jérôme Bel, as
well as veteran Japanese directors alongside up-and-coming artists. And with
5 world premieres, several of the productions will naturally deal directly
with the current controversies.
Post-3.11
Japan
One of these
includes a "referendum" being staged by acclaimed director Akira
Takayama, who will install polling booths around Tokyo, and stage discussions
and educational sessions to encourage the population to share opinions on the
Fukushima issue. A national plebiscite has never been held in Japan and now
Takayama, known for his theatre projects that utilize audience interaction
and online media, will bring the most urgent questions on nuclear power to
the fore.
Otaku (geek) art unit CHAOS*LOUNGE will likewise seek to question how far
subcultures can address these serious issues, while "Total Living:
1986-2011" draws a line from Chernobyl during the Japanese economic
Bubble to present day Fukushima at a time of recession.
Out into the
City
As Festival
Director Chiaki Soma's suggests, the current Japan has been "ripped
apart". Shaken awake from our idyllic dream of stability, what can we
say when faced with this new reality?
A continuing theme at F/T has also been to take performances out of
conventional spaces, and this year is the culmination of its efforts so far.
From Akira Takayama's voting stations spread out over Tokyo, to multiple
outdoor stagings in parks and wasteland, rooftop performances, and even a
roaming "salon" for providing a site for critics, artists and
audiences to gather, Festival/Tokyo will be connecting with audiences in a
range of unique urban environments throughout this autumn.
Festival / Tokyo
Chatelin Bruno 
