PROGRAM
Directly managed programs FT label
KAISOU : Layer, Class or Hierarchy by the method of chelfitsch's EIZO-Theatre
Photo by Kaori Itoh
Video Director: Shimpei Yamada
Cast: Sumika Itou, Sumire Urata, Sadako Egami, Yuna Kasada, Yusuke Katsuta, Tamako Kato, Shinzo Sanada, Arisa Tomitaka, Kenichi Nagai, Chisato Nishikawa, Yoshino Hayakawa, Masayuki Yano, Ayane Yui, Ryohei Yokota
Leon Kou Yonekawa
Undeniably theatre, despite the absence of flesh-and-blood performers
Since 2018, the internationally active playwright and chelfitsch founder Toshiki Okada has been working with stage video designer Shimpei Yamada on what they call “EIZO-Theater.” Audiences are confronted with life-sized images of actors projected onto panel-like screens set up in an exhibition space. The actors performing are only on the screen; there are no real people present. Nevertheless, a theatrical space of sorts mysteriously manifests.
This new style of theatre, which to date has been presented in various guises as “chelfitsch's EIZO-Theater,” is coming to Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre.
Part of the " theatre created with citizens" series held annually by the Toyohashi Arts Theatre PLAT in Toyohashi City, Aichi Prefecture, this work was created with both Okada and Yamada, together with local citizens selected through auditions. The audience climbs onto the stage and peers into the theatre basement through a rectangular hole in the floor. It is a work that makes extensive use of the spatial structure of the theatre while it questions the very construct of “EIZO-Theater.”
Profile
Toshiki Okada
Playwright, novelist, chelfitsch founder
Okada has won great acclaim and attracted a high level of attention in Japan and overseas for his unique methodology using the power of imagination and revolving around the relationship between language and physicality, as well as the critical eye he casts on contemporary society. Since chelfitsch made its overseas debut in 2007 with “Five Days in March,” it has performed in more than 90 cities worldwide. In recent years, he has also worked on repertory programs for public theatres in Europe. In 2018 Okada produced “Pratthana - A Portrait of Possession,” the staging of a novel by Thai author, Uthis Haemamool. The production received the 27th Yomiuri Theater Awards Selection Committee Special Prize in February 2020.
He has been expanding the scope of his activities, for example with the production of the Noh-inspired work “Unfulfilled Ghost and Monster – ZAHA / TSURUGA” (2021), and with his opera debut, "Yuzuru" (2021).
Shimpei Yamada
Stage video designer. Born in 1979. Representative of Aozora Ltd. Lives in the city of Toyohashi, Aichi Prefecture. He specializes in the production of visual projections used in a variety of stage performances such as operas and concerts, with a focus on theatre and contemporary dance. Recently, he has also engaged in projection mapping works in collaboration with contemporary artists, as well as the creation of visual installations. Besides showing his work in theatres and museums, he has expanded the arena of his creative expression to urban buildings and living spaces, planning and supervising site-specific art projects. He has been working to explore the possibilities of video art as he crosses the borders of performing arts and contemporary art, and the spatial boundaries between art and everyday life. In April 2020, he opened studio-cum-residence “Hiyamizu” in Toyohashi, where he regularly holds art events and activities designed to promote arts and culture to the community.
What is “EIZO Theatre”?
“EIZO Theatre” is a new style of performance developed by playwright/chelfitsch founder Toshiki Okada with stage video designer Shimpei Yamada. What the audience sees are images of actors projected onto screens and other surfaces. Although it is a video, the physical presence of the performers acting in the video precipitates a theatrical environment. EIZO Theatre performances to date comprise “Beach, Eyelids, and Curtains: chelfitsch’s EIZO-Theatre” (2018, Contemporary Art Museum, Kumamoto), and “chelfitsch’s EIZO-Theatre The Landscape, the World, and Accidents: Everything That Happens Outside of This Room” (2020, Sapporo Cultural Arts Community Center SCARTS), “NEW-ILLUSION” (2022).
See “Toshiki Okada’s “EIZO Theater” Declaration” (2018)
https://chelfitsch20th.net
Performance schedule
Wednesday, Oct. 19, 4:00 p.m. / 6:00 p.m. / 7:00 p.m. / 8:00 p.m.
Thursday, Oct. 20, 2:00 p.m. / 3:00 p.m. / 4:00 p.m. / 6:00 p.m. / 7:00 p.m. / 8:00 p.m.
Friday, Oct. 21, 2:00 p.m. / 3:00 p.m. / 4:00 p.m. / 6:00 p.m. / 7:00 p.m. / 8:00 p.m.
Saturday, Oct. 22, 11:00 a.m. / 12:00 p.m. / 2:00 p.m. / 3:00 p.m. / 4:00 p.m. / 6:00 p.m. / 19:00 / 20:00
Sunday, Oct. 23, 11:00 a.m. / 12:00 p.m. / 2:00 p.m. / 3:00 p.m. / 4:00 p.m. / 6:00 p.m. / 7:00 p.m. / 8:00 p.m.
Tuesday, Oct. 25, 2:00 p.m. / 3:00 p.m. / 4:00 p.m. / 6:00 p.m. / 7:00 p.m. / 8:00 p.m.
Running time: 70 mins (TBC)
Accessibility/Subtitles, No subtitles
Tablet with subtitles (Japanese/English, reservation required/Saturday, Oct. 22, Sunday, Oct. 23)
Language
Japanese
Ticket information
Numbered tickets, tax included
-General: ￥1,500
-High school students and under: ￥1,000, others
Priority tickets for Toshima-ku residents: on sale from 10:00 a.m. on Thursday, Sept. 1 to 23:59 p.m. on Monday, Sept. 5 (￥1,500 General tickets only)
Tickets on sale: From 10:00 a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 10
*No preschool children admitted
*When entering the venue, audiences are asked to leave all baggage other than zipped pouches and handbags in the 100 yen returnable lockers at the lobby.
*High school students and under tickets: limited number of tickets, advance sale only, ID must be presented at the time of admission
Notice to visitors
Notice to visitors
This performance will be held with measures in place to prevent the spread of coronavirus.
Please be sure to check the following link on the Tokyo Festival website when visiting:
Tokyo Festival anti-coronavirus measures
https://tokyo-festival.jp/2022/en/info/covid19/
-Please wear a mask at all times.
-Please be advised that those who have a temperature of 37.5℃ or higher or those who are not feeling well may be denied admission on the day of the performance
Venue
Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre (Theatre East)
Staff credits
Stage design(architect): Tomoaki Maruta (Tomoaki Maruta Architects)
Sound: Raku Nakahara (LUFTZUG)
Lighting: Toshiharu Ikeda (Toyohashi Arts Theatre PLAT)
Costume: Kyoko Fujitani (FAIFAI)
Video technician: Takaki Sudo
Video/filming assistants: Yuki Higuchi/ Shiori Saito (Aozora)
Stage manager: Michiko Yasuda
Assistant director: Nagara Wada
Direction Assistant: Leon Kou Yonekawa
English translation: Aya Ogawa
Tokyo Production
Guides: Someya Funimme, Ayane Yui, Ryohei Yokota
Assistant stage manager: Naoki Amikura, Miki Fujibayashi, Nodoka Maeda, Cha Kondo
Technical Manager: Eiji Torakawa
Assistant Technical Manager: Aoi Sato
Design Coordinator: Arata Okada
Set: Makoto Sakuraoka (Haiyuza)
Lighting Operator: Naoki Kinoshita (Factor Co., Ltd.)
Surtitles Coordinators: Mitsuo Nambu (JapanDisabilityPerformingArtsCollaborative),Kazuma Aoki (Beautiful Ones Ltd.)
Surtitles Operator: Hayato Itakura
Front of House: Kyoka Kawai
Production Support: Kanako Iwanaka, Mami Motoyuki, Asumi Ueda, Wakana Arai, NPO ArtsNetworkJapan
Flyer Design: Tadashi Aoki
Production: Yuko Takeda (NPO Arts Network Japan), Naoko Oshima (Tokyo Festival)
Production support: precog/ chelfitsch
Planning and production: Toyohashi Arts Theatre PLAT (Toyohashi Cultural Foundation)
Organizer credits
Organizers
Toshima Mirai Cultural Foundation, Toshima City, Tokyo Festival Executive Committee [Toshima City, Toshima Mirai Cultural Foundation, Tokyo Metropolitan Foundation for History and Culture (Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre & Arts Council Tokyo), Tokyo Metropolitan Government]
Supported by
Agency for Cultural Affairs, Government of Japan in fiscal 2022
Sponsored by
Asahi Group Japan, Ltd.
Inquiries
Tokyo Festival Executive Committee Office
050-1746-0996 (Weekdays 10:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.)