Two Ladies – Juro Kara’s Aoi no Ue

Directed by Satoshi Miyagi
Written by Juro Kara
Performed by SPAC

Satoshi Miyagi’s new work finally appears in Open Air Theatre UDO! This play is the adaptation of noh play Aoi no Ue (Lady Aoi) which is about two ladies, Lady Aoi and Lady Rokujo, who love Hikaru Genji. With an extraordinary actor’s body, this mysterious Kara world emerges in UDO. This will become a new legend of SPAC history.

Press

Choreographed and Performed by Pierre Rigal (Compagnie Dernière Minute)

Choreographic tragedy or the disturbing strangeness of the common. In Press, performing as a man “adjusting” the literally shrinking space, Pierre Rigal attempts to illustrate the constrains and obstacles of life with his striking impression. Press was a critically acclaimed solo dance performance, which was premiered at the Gate Theatre, London, in 2008. Pierre Rigal has become known on the dance scene since he performed this work at Rencontres Chorégraphiques Internationales de Seine-Saint-Denis.

Narasimha – half man half lion

Sita’s abandonment

Directed by Gopal Venu
Performed by Kapila Venu and Natanakairali

A long awaited encore performance: masters of Kuriyattam Kapila Venu and Natanakairali come back to Spring Arts Festival! This year, they bring two Nangiar Koothu performances – Narasimha – half man half lion which is the story of incarnations of Lord Vishnu and Sita’s abandonment which depicts the extreme hardship of the heroin of Ramayana. With the strong beats of mizhav (pitcher like drums made of copper), Kapila transforms herself into several characters one after another and gives you an indelible impression.

The Taming of the Shrew

Directed by Ivo van Hove
Written by William Shakespeare
Performed by Toneelgroep Amsterdam

Even Shakespeare won’t be able to imagine this makeover. Led by one of the talk-about stage directors, Ivo van Hove, Netherland’s prime theatre company　 Toneelgroep Amsterdam turns this love tragedy into a stylish play with an uninhibited criticism of society with full of energy. This is their first visit to Japan. Don’t miss it!!!

Blasted

Directed by Daniel Jeanneteau
Written by Sarah Kane
Produced by SPAC
Performed by Kazunori Abe, Koichi Otaka, and Asuka Fuse

Produced by SPAC

The bedroom of a hotel room might connect to the battlefield of an unknown country. Gifted playwright Sara Kane appeared like a comet and disappeared as quick as a flash at the end of the 20th century. Blasted is her first recognized play that shook theatre world in London with its violence and energy. This is the contemporary version of the cruelest and most beautiful love story between Hamlet and Ophelia dedicated to the survivors in the century of sex and war.

Grimm’s Fairy Tales
The Girl Without Hands/The Water of Life/The True Bride

Written and Directed by Olivier Py
Original text by Brothers Grimm
Performed by the Odéon National Theatre

The Odéon National Theatre is back with Olivier Py’s brand-new play! Based on Grimm’s Fairy Tales, Olivier Py created The Girl Without Hands and The Water of Life in 1993. These two plays have already been called as masterpiece and toured around the world. Followed by them, The True Bride was premiered last December. We present all three at once: This is an exclusive program for Shizuoka Spring Arts Festival!

Marco Polo

Written by Robin Ruizandaal
Performed by Taiyuan Puppet Theatre Company

Taiyuan Puppet Theatre performs both traditional-style over 100 years, plays as well as a modern show in which puppeteers, actors, and musician interact, like Marco Polo which is performed with Italian and Chinese music. We invite you to this smallest and most beautiful stage in the world. This play is accessible for audience of all ages and cultural background.

Les Fourbries de Scapin

Directed by Omar Porras
Written by Molière
Performed by Teatro Malandro

Omar Porass has always taken us to a mysterious and fantastic trip at SPAC since the second Theatre Olympic in 1999. This is his fourth visit to SPAC and no exception. Exploring this amazing farce of Molière, Porass delivers extraordinary illusion with masked characters and dynamic gestures. You will never forget this marvelous quest!

Anatomie Titus – Fall of Rome

Directed by Brigitte Maria Mayer Müller
Original text by Heiner Müller
Starring Jeanne Moreau and Anna Müller

Anatomy Titus traces a via dolorosa through the modern world, telling its story in fourteen tableaux, and presenting a global narrative with an international cast. It transfers the historical content of Shakespeare’s Titus Andronicus to a modern global context, while at the same time evoking timeless mythological moments. The text consists almost entirely of the section of commentary from Heiner Müller’s adaptation of Titus Andronicus, Anatomy Titus Fall of Rome. This screening is for the first time ever in Japan.