Even the Far East can feel closer
In this unique “Focus Asia” Programme, we celebrate the great playwrights of a continent in which theatre is always somewhere between tradition and innovation, between a remote past and an immediate present, between myth and reality. Indeed, the inspirations and values at the core of contemporary Asian playwriting are so profound because they derive from this series of paradoxes.
Like a haiku or a Murakami novel, The Bee by Hideki Noda is mysterious and provocative, a true journey into the unknown. To discover it is simply a cultural revelation. In a text staged by thousands of directors and widely regarded as the masterpiece of twentieth century Chinese drama, Secret Love in Peach Blossom Land, Stan Lai creates the atmosphere of a theatrical tale like no other. It is a play within a play within a play… about love, history and identity. Pai Sam-Sik, a Korean master of dramatic craft, invites readers and spectators to confront a deep trauma of his nation, one that scarred the spirit of an entire continent. His 1945 is an act of remembrance and moral judgement.
Three plays, there authors, three artistic universes… One single principle, underlying the Readings and Conferences of “Focus Asia”: in theatre, through theatre, even the Far East can feel closer.
Curator
Prof. Octavian Saiu
21:00 Monday, 23 September 2018
«The bee» by Hideki Noda, playwright-director of the Tokyo Metropolitan Theater. Translation Gina Κarvounaki, direction Giorgos Giannarakos. Meeting with the playwrightcoordinated by Octavian Saiu, Adjunct Secretary General of the International Association of Theatre Critics (IATC)
VENUE: Greek Art Theatre Karolos Koun -Frynichou
19:00 Tuesday 25, September 2018
«1945» by Pai Sam-Sik, translation Eleni Mitsakou, direction Chrysa Kapsouli.
VENUE: Greek Art Theatre Karolos Koun -Frynichou.
15:00 Thursday 27 September 2018
“Secret Love in peach blossom land” by Stan Lai, direction Nadia Foskolou.
VENUE: Municipal Theatre of Pireus