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PARK CITY

Masataka MATSUDA+Keiko SASAOKA

  • 2009
  • Performing Arts
  • Commissioned by YCAM
  • World Premiere
大きなサイズで見る
1

Visualizing the hidden voices and memories of a city on the example of Hiroshima

Based on a series of pictures of the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park by Hiroshima-born photographer Keiko Sasaoka, this theatre play illustrates the latent memories and voices of a city on the concrete example of Hiroshima as it was re-erected after the war around a monument in the form of a park.

In the creation process, Sasaoka and Masataka Matsuda both visited Hiroshima, and scooped up the "voices" hidden in the city that has been depicted countless times in the course of history, while repeatedly exchanging texts and photographs according to their concept. The script and story line that emerged out of this procedure set up a multilayered, intricately tangled past/present timeline while accentuating the notion of "acting (live) in the present" in performing arts, and the function of photography as a medium for recording/reproduction.

Only the venue's third floor seats are available for viewing this piece, as it was conceived to be experienced in a unique style looking down upon the stage. Different from plays that attempt to connect the viewer to the extraordinary theatre world, here the audience is made perfectly aware of the distance and disconnectedness. In addition, all seats are equipped with individual video screens showing prerecorded footage and real-time images recorded by cameras directed toward the stage.

This setup juxtaposing the physical distance between stage and audience, the indirect sense of distance brought about by media technology, and the distance between past and present as represented by photography and stage art respectively, redefines the experience of watching a play.

Profiles

Masataka MATSUDA

Playwright / Director

Born 1962 in Nagasaki Prefecture. Matsuda is a leading japanese playwrite / director since the 1990s. He started his career in drama while a student at Ritsumeikan University. He formed Jiku Gekijo company in Kyoto in 1990, and wrote and directed all the works for the company until it was disbanded in 1997. He worked as a freelance after that and wrote for and co-produced with Seinendan and Bungakuza. He founded Marebito-no-Kai in May, 2003 and started to direct again as well as continuing to write for the company. He is outstanding for his ability to apply everyday setting and unflinching language to depict the unconscious fetters hidden in the human unconscious. He has received numerous awards, including OMS Drama Award 1994 for "Saka no Uenoie (The house on the hill)", OMS Drama Award and KISHIDA Kunio Drama Award in 1996 for "Umi to Higasa (Sea and Parasol), Yomiuri Drama Award for "Tsuki no Misaki (Moon Cape)", Yomiuri Literature Award in1998 for "Natsu no Sunanoue (On the sand of the Summer)" and Kyoto Cultural Encouragement Prize in 2000. He is a guest professor at Kyoto University of Art and Design.

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Keiko SASAOKA

Photographer

Born 1978 in Hiroshima Prefecture. Graduated from Tokyo Zokei University in 2002. Founding member of photographers' gallery, a group of photographers that runs a gallery, organizes exhibitions and photography courses, publishes in-house magazines and photo collections, and engages in various other activities that involve the medium of photography. Was the editor in charge of volumes 2 to 7 of the "photographers' gallery press" journal. Was awarded an encouragement prize at "The Vision of Contemporary Art 2008," The Ueno Royal Museum, Tokyo. Has been exhibiting her creations in solo and group shows in Japan and abroad since 2001, when she presented her first work in public. Has been focusing on the "interior" and "exterior" of the historical city of Hiroshima since leaving the town where she grew up. This experience is reflected in many of her works, which keep fascinating viewers through the unique mixture of power and coolness they represent. Is reputed among fans and critics as a promising artist from the next generation of photographers.

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Performance

PARK CITY

Finished

Friday, August 28 — Sunday, 30, 2009

* Information in Japanese only

Tour 1

October 24, 2009 — 25

Biwako Hall

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Links

Performing Arts

119

Masataka MATSUDA's works

3

Keiko SASAOKA's works

2

Works of 2009

17

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