The World Premiere of the international project of the Drak Theatre (Hradec Králové) A Plague O´Both Your Houses!!! will take place on June 10 at 8 pm. in the Archa Theatre
Press Release from June 1, 2001
Premiere: June 10, 2001 at 8:00 p.m.
Additional performances: June 11, 12, at 8.00 p.m.
A theatre performance inspired by William Shakespeare´s tragedy Romeo and Juliet, a combination of traditional Japan puppet theatre and modern Czech puppetry.
The authors of this idea to combine traditional Japan theatre Bunraku and the modern puppetry of DRAK Theatre are Josef Krofta (DRAK Theatre art director), Noriyuky Sawa (professional Japanese puppeteer living in Prague) and Katsuma Doi (director of the Japan Foundation in Tokyo).
The project A Plague O´Both Your Houses!!! is an attempt to discover the possibility of influencing the Japan principle of animation with a European experience. In their unique way, they disturb the anonymity of the animators and use them as their own dramatic characters who participate in the story. So during the staging of the fates of Romeo and Juliet, the hands of the characters, as well as the hands of the puppeteers, also appear. This performance studies the problems of manipulation of people in various forms and in various ways. The authors find the substance of the drama not only in the hatred of both houses and their attitudes, but also primarily in the individuals and their involvement in the tragic fates. In addition to the attempt of combining two very different theatre processes, the basic themes as manipulation, conformity and love are observed, as they are found in the phenomenon of Elizabethan drama.
The Japanese puppetry of Bunraku has its roots in the 17th century, when Japanese theatre enjoyed deep prosperity. The Bunraku puppets went through a lot of changes and gradually became more technically difficult, as well as more demanding to the animators. For example, the puppets are able to move their eyes, their fingers and their eyebrows, and require three puppeteers to operate them (one puppeteer manipulates the right arm, another the left arm, and the third operates the legs). Everything happens before the eyes of the spectator. The theatre uses numerous props and other movable objects.
In accordance to the importance of the puppet in the play, there are differences in their size and their equipment; the less important characters do not have for example the ability to move their mouths, eyes nor eyebrows. This theatre technique places great demands on its animators, and to become a real master of this style, requires almost a dozen years. Bunraku theatre is highly honoured in Japan, and in 1984, the independent Bunraku Theatre was founded in Osaka.
The international version of this project will be presented as a part of the festival Czech Theatre 2000/2001 in Prague, Theatre of the European Region in Hradec Králové and in festivals in France, Hungary and Poland. In July 2001, the project will be presented in Japan.
Direction: Josef Krofta
Screenplay: Miloslav Klíma a Josef Krofta
Music: Jiří Vyšohlíd
Scene/costumes/puppets: Irena Marečková
Performing: Jan Popela, Shin Nakatsugawa, Ivana Bílková, Hanako Azuma, Jiří Vyšohlíd, Gakosaku Takizawa, Václav Poul, Kosaku Ogawa, Vítek Březka.
Special guest of the performances in the Archa Theatre will be Koryu Nishikawa
Koryu Nishikawa is the fifth generation of the puppeteering family Nishikawa, who is continuing the tradition of the unique form of Japan puppeteer Kuruma Ningyo. In contrast to Bunraku, this folk-style requires only one puppet operator. The operator sits on a small chair with wheels. By using the classical works from the Edo period, Nishikawa tries to perform new pieces. Nishikawa´s theatre Hachioji Kuruma Ningyo was declared as Intangible Folk Custom Cultural Asset by the Japanese Government.
The project is coproduction of DRAK Theatre, the International Institute of Figural Theatre, Hradec Králové, and The Japan Foundation, Tokyo.