The 383-year-old Public-interest incorporated foundation
Edo Marionette Theatre YOUKIZA, designated a Tokyo Municipal Intangible Cultural Property and an Important Intangible Folk Cultural Properties of Japan, performed a newly-written work with scriptwriting and direction by two avant-garde young rising stars of theater from China, who are making a name for themselves on the global stage. Artists in not only Japan, but also China and the world are taking up the aging population issue confronting us. Raising social issues through theater, this work honed in on the abyss of human life, questioning what it is to live, to die, and to get old. Adopting a multimedia theater approach that incorporated live images, this unique collaboration between puppets, video images and humans was an attempt to create a new form of expression with Edo marionettes. Prior to the performance, the troupe held a lecture at a university in the city to aid understanding of the performance, as well as a hands-on workshop, as a way of encouraging understanding of and promoting the production.
Program: Chechydonrai (As the Sparrows Wended in a Windless Winter)
Performers: Magosaburo Youki XII and other YOUKIZA puppeteers
Guest performer: Atsushi Sakamoto
Staff members:
Script: Zhao Binghao
Concept/direction: Wang Chong
Puppet design: Kazuyoshi Kushida, others
Public-interest incorporated foundation Edo Marionette Theatre YOUKIZA
Founded by Magosaburo Youki I in 1635 in the Edo town of Fukiya-cho, this troupe can claim many classic masterpieces often performed today. Renowned works include “Meiboku Sendai Hagi (The Precious Incense and Autumn Flowers of Sendai),””Shinrei Yaguchi no Watashi(The Yaguchi Ferry),”by Gennai Hiraga,“Date Musume Koi no Higanoko (A Maiden’s Flaming Love)”and “Shinpan Utazaimon: Nozaki Mura (Nozaki Village).”Since the Meiji period the company has actively taken on overseas theatrical works in translation as well as new contemporary plays. In particular, recent years have seen the troupe making assertive forays into overseas performance and international collaborative productions.
Designated a Tokyo Municipal Intangible Cultural Property in 1956.
Selected as an Important Intangible Folk Cultural Properties of Japan in 1996.
Maki Sawada
production division
Public-interest incorporated foundation Edo Marionette Theatre YOUKIZA
Nukuikita-machi,3-18-2,Koganei-shi,Tokyo 184-0015
Tel:+81-(0)42-322-9750
Fax:+81-(0)42-322-3976
E-mail:sawada@youkiza.jp
ZA-KOENJI2 Public Theatre