Opening up new possibilities in theatre by "disrobing" it

Festival/Tokyo
Program Director
Chiaki Soma

“A festival for the creation of new values.” With the launch of the third edition, Festival/Tokyo unquestionably moves from the “period of creation” to the “period of growth”. Upon this occasion we would like to take the opportunity to reaffirm F/T’s basic policy. In the midst of the dialogues and criticisms generated by the groundbreaking contemporary works representing the multiple perspectives of the artists gathering at the festival, we aim to be a platform for creating and imagining new values yet to be seen.

The third Festival/Tokyo is scheduled to be held over a period of 30 days. 15 works are presented by F/T, eight works presented by the respective companies are shown in the frame of the F/T Emerging Artists Program, and three works launching from theatres in the metropolitan area in the same period are co-presented by F/T. In other words: a total of 26 works will be staged 208 times altogether. Nine works are new creations in which F/T is engaged either as a producer or co-producer. Five of the above-mentioned works are world- premièred at the F/T. In the same spirit as the previous festivals, we wish to intermediate the performing arts by providing a place for dialogue and exchange for everyone involved: artists, performers, staff, volunteers and audiences. We continuously seek to evolve in our search for new values.

A place for discussion and exchange, this time the F/T Symposium series as well as related programs are held parallel to the performances. Under the motto “opening up new possibilities in theatre for the creation of a theatre yet to come” four different symposiums are implemented as a result of ideas born from the previous F/Ts. By re-thinking the Japanese status quo in a historical and global perspective, we focus on the further direction of creation in Japanese theatre in which F/T is engaged. The symposiums feature critics and practitioners from other genres. “Reflecting on the publicness of the arts”, “Looking at the city through the lens of theatre”, “Re-thinking contemporary theatre in Japan” and “Expanding theatre”. Every one of these four topics will provide a new context for each of the works performed in the F/T, further questioning the role of F/T in general. Through this we hope to encourage a productive dialogue leading to the creation of new values related to Japan “here and now” and the reality in Asia.
"Disrobing theatre". The F/T10 catch phrase is somewhat provocative, but to us it holds a deep meaning. Firstly, a wish to follow up F/T's basic awareness in pursuing the possibilities of theatre is implicated in these words. By presenting the first edition "Towards a new real", and the second edition "Evolving real", we witnessed the need of theatre as a medium to go beyond its existing borders to represent our multiple realities. With the launch of the third edition we follow the same track, looking for the elements to be found behind the "robe" of what is generally recognized as "theatre". Drama, text, narrative, actors, acting, body, theatre building, stage… what is the true face of theatre that is revealed to us when removing even only one of these unique "theatre robes"? How shall "theatre" confront the complexity of our times and overcome the difficulty of representation?
All the works gathering at F/T, not only their content, but their relation to each other, their form, venue and playing hours, everything is a result of an intrepid challenge where nothing stays within the existing frames. Sometimes the performances will even evoke the simple question "is this theatre?" Torn between curiosity and skepticism, the audiences will witness for themselves this challenge, and sometimes they may even take up the stance as "accomplices". We hope that the doubt "is this theatre?" will serve as a driving force for everyone to reflect on the shape of theatre after having been disrobed.

One part of our line-up disrobes the theatre of the traditional narrative, pioneering a new theatrical language. Since the origin of theatre, the mythos/narrative has been of primary importance, however three of the foreign artists display original world visions by inventing unique dramatical languages and dramaturgies, reflecting our contemporary society in lack of "grand narratives". Christoph Marthaler displays a deep feeling of uneasiness in the aftermath of the economic crisis in a village where the inhabitants have lost the grand narrative that they once used to share. But it is with a great sense of humor and melancholy that they join in scattered choruses and gestures, and speak fragments of texts. Meanwhile, Rodrigo Garcia reflects the grotesque reality of our of mass consumer society by literally dispersing the goods on stage, violently provoking the audiences while they slowly realize that they are accomplices to the consumption. In a closed world where moral is non-existing, Gisèle Vienne captures the essence of man and beauty by displaying the perverted desires of an individual. Through these works representing post-drama theatre, we wish to re-examine how to tell the world in the era of the loss of the grand narratives.

Meanwhile, the Japanese small theatre scene receives international attention for their numberless "small narratives". What do the creators confront, and how do they attempt to re-present it to become theatre? Based on his rich experience in densely interpreting various dramatic texts, Motoi Miura reconstructs several of Antonin Artaud's records into text collages. The only Japanese artist presenting an original play, Shiro Maeda, steps out of his comfort zone, announcing that he is "going on the way to get lost". With these works, we wish to reaffirm the status quo of theatre creation that is based in the dramatic text, actor and body.

Another tendency of "disrobing theatre" is that we engage in productions, in which the venue is not necessarily a theatre building, and the audiences themselves perform the role that is normally reserved for the actors. In Roger Bernat's "Public Domain" the 150 spectators gathering in a public square turn into performers as the accumulation of what is commonly regarded as private, is transformed into a public narrative reflecting the structure of society as a whole. Known for creating works referring to Japanese original media and the adult entertainment industry, Akira Takayama attempts to expand the concept of theatre by setting up places for the audiences to meet with communities that are unevenly dispersed around in the city, and usually out of focus. Norimizu Ameya, whose two previous works shown at F/T resulted in fateful meetings between the dramatic text and the actors, will create a theatrical environment unrelated to the theatre building, dramatic text and actors, redefining theatre by crossing it with visual arts. What kind of theatre will be born depends on the individual experience of each spectator. Now it is time for the spectators’ imagination and ability to take action to be called into question.

Then there is the group of works that can be labeled "document of life". Their way of dealing with the memory of the individual and history doesn’t employ a narrative structure, but follows the same principle of "disrobing theatre". Through the memory of an individual and the use of their own bodies, Wen Hui and Wu Wenguang, pioneers of the independent art scene in China, engrave the heaviness of their nation's history represented by the Cultural Revolution onto the mind and bodies of the audience, in an extraordinary long performance lasting for eight hours. Facing the memories of the two different cities Hiroshima and Hapcheon, Masataka Matsuda seeks to assemble documentary material in the shape of an installation, challenging the audience's experience of theatre. In "DRAMATHOLOGY" Yujiro Sagami creates theatre from the memories of a group of elderly people in a process moving from "me" to "us".

What about dance? We have commissioned new works from two artists who have in common that they are both in search for a new dramaturgy in dance. Employing György Ligeti's piano music and noise sounds as a temporal axis, and his own lighting design and scenography as a spatial axis, Saburo Teshigawara embodies a world where heaviness and meaning evaporates. Through the use of her own body Ikuyo Kuroda's reflections on the theme "mother" sublimate into a magnificent fantasy. As it is not only the Japanese dance world that is suffering from a lack of innovation, the theme "disrobing dance" must be placed on the top of the agenda. In the future F/T would like to provide a platform for dance-related people and critics to assemble and discuss this issue.

In addition to the works presented by F/T as mentioned above, we have launched the new F/T Emerging Artists Program, in which we invite young theatre companies to present their independent works. From around 80 applicants, we have chosen eight companies from all over Japan to take part. These works reflect different values and understandings, and hopefully they will bring forth unanticipated trials and errors. Next year we plan to expand this program by inviting other Asian countries to participate, seeking to develop into a platform for the creation of new values.

With the above-mentioned challenge of “Disrobing theatre” we are hoping to prepare the ground for new possibilities in theatre. By opening up the theatre towards society and future, we continuously question the practices reflecting on the roles of theatre and the publicness of the arts. On what grounds can a private expression be shared and sustained as something of public belonging? It is a basic premise, and of absolute necessity for a cultural project receiving public funding like the F/T, not only to confront the publicness of theatre in specific and the arts in general, but also to be aware of the ongoing discussion like the new law regarding the systematization of theatre creation and distribution, that will doubtlessly have an influence on the entire environment for the creation of performing arts in the future. We believe that the answers to the grand questions above are found in every single F/T performance. Meanwhile, the F/T Symposium series and the F/T Station serve as a place for the investigation of all the performances on a horizontal level, as well as to encourage dialogue and constructive criticism. This is how we hope that the F/T will serve a “thinking medium”.