KAAT's 2016 lineup has been announced, starting with "Dream Play" directed by Akira Shirai!

The other day, at KAAT Kanagawa Arts Theater, which celebrated its fifth anniversary since its opening, the lineup for 2016 was announced, as well as the production announcement for ``Dream Play'' directed by Akira Shirai, which will be performed in April. I got it. Akira Shirai, who has been taking artistic initiatives in KAAT's programs as an artistic advisor since April 2014, will change his title to "artistic director" from April 2016. The memorable first work is this "Dream Play", with the script written by Keishi Nagatsuka, choreographed by Kaiji Moriyama, and starring Akari Hayami, Kei Tanaka, and Noriko Eguchi. , Reo Tamaki, Sayoko Nasu, and Hajime Yamazaki were all gathered together.

(Bottom row from left) Akira Shirai, Keifumi Nagatsuka, Akari Hayami, Kei Tanaka, Kaiji Moriyama (Top row from left) Sayoko Nasu, Hajime Yamazaki, Noriko Eguchi, Reo Tamaki

The original "Dream Play" is a work written by Swedish writer Strindberg in 1901, in which the god Indra (Akira Shirai) sends his daughter Agnes (Akari Hayami) to earth to see and hear people's complaints and lamentations. The story begins with this, and depicts Agnes growing up through various encounters on earth and experiencing the pain of human existence. By the way, the lead role, Agnes, was chosen by Hayami due to Shirai's desire.

At the production announcement, there was a scene in which Hayami burst into tears, perhaps due to the pressure of her first stage challenge, and Shirai said, ``If you can speak so clearly while crying, it must be a big deal.'' He praised them with a smile, and excited the audience. Although many of the actors called the script ``difficult,'' Mr. Nagatsuka, who worked on the script, said, ``I believe that the difficulty can be overcome to a great extent through artistry.When I saw Mr. Hayami crying earlier, I thought that if this play were somehow centered around her, running like a white horse through the wild and dirty human world, it would become a kind of celebration, and it could become a hymn to humanity and an hymn to art. I think so.''

Akari Hayami sheds tears during the press conference

Hayami says that she has avoided performing on stage until now, but she is often asked, ``Why did you choose this work for your first stage performance, even though you have avoided it until now?'' ``I don't know why I chose this work, but my current anxiety about not knowing anything about the play is exactly the same as the main character's situation in the play when he doesn't know anything about it, and I'm also worried about what will happen when the play ends.'' "I want to grab it and come back," he said, expressing his enthusiasm.

Director Shirai says, ``It's a work that unfolds like a dream and changes without any pattern, so it may seem difficult just by reading the script, but when it's turned into a three-dimensional play, the difficulty disappears.'' ``I don't understand it at all right now, but it's interesting to create things that I don't understand.In the end, I hope that one person's life will be revealed.'' I did.

KAAT Kanagawa Arts Theater Artistic Director Akira Shirai's first production since his appointment, "Dream Play Produced by KAAT Kanagawa Arts Theater," will be held from April 12th (Tuesday) to April 30th (Saturday) at KAAT Kanagawa Arts Theater. Starting with the performance, we are planning a tour to Matsumoto and Hyogo.

Now, at the lineup announcement held on the same day as the production announcement for "Dream Play," it was impressive to see artists of all generations and genres standing side by side.

In his opening remarks, which can be seen as an expression of the new artistic director Ko Shirai's initial intentions, he spoke of ``an expression that is a mixture of not only theater but also music, dance, and contemporary art,'' ``a place for young creators to gain experience, and build up their skills,'' and ``public Keywords such as "cooperation between theaters" were mentioned. He also said, ``I want to create a theater where even veteran theater artists can break out of their shells and have an adventure, even if there are expressions that have been restricted because they thought they couldn't do it.'' While inheriting KAAT's role as a "theater for people who want to do things", we can expect further evolution as an exciting creative space where artists from many genres and from a wide range of generations gather.

Akira Shirai giving the opening remarks

Since April's ``Dream Play'', Miwa Yanagi has created a stage trailer project based on Kenji Nakagami's ``Wings of the Sun'' and performed it on a moving stage vehicle, as well as the Japan Pavilion at the 56th Venice Biennale. The success of contemporary artists is also likely to become more prominent, including the triumphant return exhibition of exhibiting artist Chiharu Shiota. In addition, there are works by a wide range of generations, from young creators such as Kunio Sugihara and Kenichi Tani to veterans such as Yukio Ninagawa and Kazumi Kushida, including Yasuyuki Shuto's dance series, which is the fourth work in the series, and Kazuo Umezu. A series of ambitious works unique to KAAT are scheduled to be performed one after another, including a musical adaptation of the science fiction work ``Watashi wa Shingo.'' For more information, please check the official website of KAAT Kanagawa Arts Theater .

(From left) Keifumi Nagatsuka, Miwa Yanagi, Chiharu Shiota, Yasuyuki Shuto, Kenichi Tani, Kunio Sugihara, Kazumi Kushida, Akira Shirai

(TEXT: Akiko Inoue)