INTRODUCTION
This year's Festival is a spectacular event of contemporary theater and dance from around the globe.
More detailed descriptions of the 25 programs can be found inside.
TIF '97 consists of the following three categories:
1. International Collaboration Projects
2. Domestic Productions
3. Overseas Productions
1. INTERNATIONAL COLLABORAION PROJECCTS
More than ever, TIF '97 is characterized by its increasingly international flavour. This year's line-up includes nine international Collaborations, the delicious fruits of innovative and creative minds from their exposure to different cultures and traditions.
Three Shakespearian plays are given an overhaul. With participants from the U. S. ' the U. K. , Germany and Hungary as well as Japan and South Korea, The International Theater Institute (ITI), headed by South Korea's Jeong Ok Kim, brings us a multi-cultural King Lear. A Comedy:Romeo and Juliette is the collaboration of Japan's Black Tent Company and the PETA Company from the Philippines while Romania's Alexandru Darie and his all-Japanese troupe create a fresh, exciting take on Macbeth.
Two modern masterpieces are included in this category. Theater Group En's productions of Ibsen's Ghosts and John Gabriel Borkman. Norway's Terje Maerli and Japan's Tetsuo Anzai direct the respective plays.
Modern Japanese classic Yaya receives two radically different interpretations: one Japanese and the other Lithuanian.
Directed by Poland's Jan Peszek and interpreted by Japanese actors, Princess Ivona, the latest offering from Polish avant garde Gombrowicz, makes its debut in Japan.
Three international dance productions are also featured. Jacob's Pillow 97 PAN Dancers from the US co-produce a Butoh piece with Japan's Min Tanaka. Another Butoh production, again featuring Tanaka this time working with Norwegian dancers' takes its inspiration from the tortured paintings of Edvard Munch. Japanese contemporary dance choreographer Keiko Takeya works with artists from Bali and Thailand in her Dance Dong Feng (Wind from the East) project.
2. DOMESTIC PRODUCTIONS
These twelve productions range from the experimental to the more conventional. Noh, Performance Art, Dance and theater productions are all represented.
Yuubin haitatsufu no Koi, (The Love of a Postman) is based on the story of Cyrano de Bergerac. Ronald Harwood's Raion no Atode, (After the Lions) featuring Tetsuko Kuroyanagi, one of Japan's most popular actreses, depicts the life of Sarah Bernhardt. Transgender superstar Akihiro Miwa, who shot to fame in Mishima's celluloid classic the Black Lizard, stars in and directs Jean Coquet's L'Aigle à deux tête, (The Double-Headed Eagle).
0ne of the most popular and successful independent theater troupes, Yukikai Zenjido Theater, present their new work Kowareta Omocha (Broken Toys) while the neo-Kabuki company Hanagumi Shibai performs Cleopatra. In Oedipus, WHY?, Takeshi Kawamura of Dai-San Erotica endeavors to transfer this Greek tragedy to present day Tokyo. Meanwhile, A. G. S Company, one of two non-Tokyo based troupes participating this year, bring us Kame, moshikuwa (The Turtles, and so. . . )
0n the fringes of dialogue-based theater are companies such as Gekidan Kaitaisha. Their new work Zero Category poetically emphasizes movement combining it with a unique use of space while Nogaku Kamiasobi, a group of young Noh actors, continue to push back the frontiers of traditional art-form. The internationally acclaimed Kyoto-based multimedia performance group Dumb Type presents OR. Finally, to promote contemporary dance in Japan, Dance Selection '97 introduces work by Japanese choreographers.
3. OVERSEAS PRODUCTIONS
Although this festival mainly focuses on international collabora1ions and promotes the search for new frontiers in the performing arts, also vital to us is the quest to introduce cutting-edge productions from overseas to Japanese audiences. This year's four choices come from wildly different genres.
From France come two productions, both inspired by Samuel Beckett. One is Peter Brook's Happy Days, the other consists of a contemporary dance piece by Maguy Marin. Blending folk tales with elements of Peking Opera, the all-female company Little Flower Shaoxing Opera Troupe from Zheijiang in China adds a new dimension to the festival as does American composer SteveReich's The Cave, a unique live performance combining music with video imagery.
