AKUTAGAWA North America Tour
*Information at the time of adoption.
- Name of the organization or individual
- Hachioji Kuruma Ningyo Nishikawa Furuyanagiza
- subsidy category
- Creation Grant
- Grant Type
- single year
Reiwa 4(2022) 1st Term Creation Grant Category I Single-Year Grant
Business Overview
The project involved a joint production of the puppet play "AKUTAGAWA" by Hachiojisha Ningyo Nishikawa Furuyanagiza and American artists, and a total of 14 performances in 5 North American cities. Focusing on motifs that are relevant to today's society, such as the way of life in a society where epidemics have spread, the uncertainty of stories told by people, and doubts about common sense, this work analyzes the life of Akutagawa Ryunosuke and his works "Rashomon," "Jigoku-hen," "Ryu," "Du Zichun," and "Kappa" from both Japanese and American perspectives. Based on the traditional expression technique of car puppets, this work uses English narration, shadow pictures, images, and live music. From Hachioji Kuruma Ningyo, Furuyanagi NISHIKAWA V participated in composition, direction, puppet design, and appearance (puppet performance); from America, Tom Lee participated in composition, direction, video, and appearance (Narration, puppet performance); in addition, Yukio Tsuji, a composer, shakuhachi player, and percussionist who has contributed music to various kinds and scales of stage productions in New York; Chris Carcione, who creates stage productions using media art; and Linda Wingerter, who designed shadow pictures.
- Period of Activity / Project
- Friday, January 27, 2023 - Saturday, February 25
- Venues
- Chopin Theatre (Chicago, USA) Wabash University Ball Theatre (Crowfordsville, USA) Capa Theatre (Pittsburgh, USA) Virginia Tech Moss Arts Center (Blacksburg, USA) Japan Society (New York, USA)
*Information such as project outlines is provided by organizations and individuals providing subsidies.
Profile
[Hachioji Kuruma Ningyo Nishikawa Furuyanagiza]
The Hachioji Kuruma Ningyo Nishikawa Furuyanagiza is a traditional puppet theater company whose purpose is to pass down and spread the technique of 'Kuruma Ningyo' (car puppet), in which a puppeteer sitting on a box with a car called a 'Rokuro guruma' uses his hands and feet to control a single puppet, through the iemoto system. Founded in 1872, it was designated a Tokyo Metropolitan Intangible Cultural Property in 1982, a National Selected Intangible Folk Cultural Property in 1994, and a National Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property in January 2022. At present, under the leadership of Furuyu NISHIKAWA V, he gives performances and workshops not only in Japan but also in more than 30 countries and regions around the world.