Artists from Japan, England and Taiwan collaborated to present a new production of leading English female 20th century playwright Sarah Kane’s last work “4.48 PSYCHOSIS” as a contemporary punk opera (premiered in Tokyo in March 2020). With the performance language as English and the creative process taking place in both Japan and England, this project proposed a new creative blueprint transcending professional fields and national boundaries. An English tour had been in the pipeline to coincide with an invitation to perform in the Festival of Contemporary Japanese Arts 2020 at The Coronet Theatre in London but was postponed due to the spread of coronavirus. The troupe is currently going ahead with preparations to resume the work’s domestic and internationals tour schedule from 2022 onwards.
Written: Sarah Kane
Japanese translated: Takehiko Tanioka
Direction and Design: Tomoco Kawaguchi
Dramaturge: Nina Kane
Misic: Kosuke Suzuki
Performers: Kosuke Suzuki, Naoko Takimoto, Yusuke Ono, Seira Nakanishi and Ming Hwa Yeh
Sound Design: Takeshi Shima, Risa Kawasaki
Lighting Design: Yuu Yokohara
Video Design: Miku Kitagawa, Taiyo Nobata
Accessories Design: Miwa Kakuta
Stage Manager: Tatsuhiko Ito
Creation Supported: PARADISE AIR
Tomoco Kawaguchi (Theatre Director, ABSOLUTE LLC Representative Employee)
Kawaguchi began her career as a director in 2008. From 2010 she started working on the staging of plays by Sarah Kane, unveiling “4.48 PSYCHOSIS” after it had spent a long time on the drawing board and undergone a production process spanning two years. Working beyond the confines of contemporary theater, Kawaguchi is actively engaged in theater for babies, the creation of works in collaborative with community members, and exchange with overseas artists and artists from other genres. In 2022 she plans to direct a new opera based on a script by Yoko Tawada, “Ano machi wa kyo mo omatsuri” (“A festival in that neighborhood again today.”)
ABSOLUTE LLC
Established in 2019 as a base for broadening Kawaguchi’s range of projects and supporting sustained performance of her theatrical projects.
Tomoco KAWAGUCHI
Representative employee, Theatre Director
ABSOLUTE LLC
info.tomococafe@gmail.com