Japan Society to Present 'Stories from the War: Reflecting on WWII through Theater'

As part of its 2014-2015 Performing Arts Season, Japan Society presents Stories from the War: Reflecting on WWII through Theater, featuring three theatrical offerings within a Society-wide series marking the 70th anniversary of the end of WWII. This theater series, spanning January through May 2015, is the centerpiece of a larger Society-wide series, Stories from the War, which includes a film series, lectures and education programs, encouraging reflection on the events, figures and issues surrounding the war and its impact on the people of the United States and Japan from today's vantage point.

The three-part series Stories from the War: Reflecting on WWII through Theater includes:

· Miwa Yanagi's Zero Hour: Tokyo Rose's Last Tape (January 29-31)

· Michiko Godai's Yokohama Rosa (April 25 & 26)

· New and Traditional Noh: Holy Mother in Nagasaki and Kiyotsune (May 14-16)

Japan Society's Artistic Director Yoko Shioya remarks, "Theater is one of the most powerful and immediate mediums to unpack and address complicated and challenging topics. At a time critical to Japanese politics and the U.S.-Japan relationship, these productions bring to life vivid and timeless personal stories, and offer a platform for discussion through a contemporary lens."

Miwa Yanagi's Zero Hour: Tokyo Rose's Last Tape
North American Premiere
Thursday, January 29 at 7:30pm (followed by MetLife Meet-the-Artists Reception)
Friday, January 30 & Saturday, January 31 at 7:30pm

The series Stories from the War: Reflecting on WWII through Theater begins in January with Miwa Yanagi's Zero Hour: Tokyo Rose's Last Tape, recounting the story of "Tokyo Rose," the young Japanese-American woman who was stranded in Japan during WWII, forced to serve as a broadcaster for a propaganda radio program controlled by the Japanese Imperial Army and subsequently tried for treason by the United States. Seventy years later, this historic incident is brought to life in this production's North American premiere through a visually stunning theatrical whodunit conceived, written and directed by internationally renowned visual artist Miwa Yanagi (one of the featured artists in Japan Society's 2011 gallery exhibition Bye Bye Kitty!! Between Heaven and Hell in Contemporary Japanese Art). Brimming with iconic imagery from her rich body of photographic work, Zero Hour tells the multi-layered story of a woman caught between two nations during the war. This marks Yanagi's North American debut as a theater artist. Performed in English and Japanese with English subtitles. Tickets: $35/$28 Japan Society members.

Japan Society produced and organized North American tour includes: The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Washington, DC; Asian Arts & Culture Center at Towson University, Towson, MD; Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre, Toronto, Canada; REDCAT (Roy and Edna Disney/CalArts Theater), Los Angeles, CA.

Michiko Godai's Yokohama Rosa
North American Premiere
Saturday, April 25 at 7:30pm (followed by a MetLife Meet-the-Artists Reception); Sunday, April 26 at 2:30pm

Continuing in the series Stories from the War: Reflecting on WWII through Theater, legendary actress Michiko Godai presents Yokohama Rosa, an intimate portrait of a woman whose life was forever changed by WWII. In this original one-woman tragi-comedy inspired by the sight of a mysterious old woman frequently observed on the streets of Yokohama and known by locals as "Merii-san," Godai transforms on stage from a vulnerable young woman to a confident prostitute out on the streets, to a lovesick middle-aged woman and finally, to a frail but compassionate homeless lady whose life intersected with not one but three wars: WWII, the Korean War and the Vietnam War. Performed in Yokohama annually on the anniversary of the end of WWII in Japan, Godai's captivating piece reveals the war's deep and lasting consequences on the most personal level. Performed in Japanese with English subtitles. Tickets: $35/$28 Japan Society members.

New and Traditional Noh: Holy Mother in Nagasaki and Kiyotsune
Thursday, May 14 at 7:30pm (followed by a MetLife Meet-the-Artists Reception)
Friday, May 15 & Saturday, May 16 at 7:30pm

Japan Society presents a rare double bill of plays from the modern and traditional noh repertoires. In keeping with the theme of the Society's WWII series, the evening features the poignant new play Holy Mother in Nagasaki. The piece, performed in the form of the traditional stylized noh theater, imagines the Virgin Mary appearing to console the victims of the atomic bombing in the city of Nagasaki, a region where Christians were known to have practiced covertly during Japan's feudal period under Tokugawa shogun rule and a significant Catholic population still resides. As a companion piece, the evening features Kiyotsune, one of the centuries-old masterpieces by Zeami, the founder of the theory of stylized noh theater in medieval Japan. This plays tells the story of a grieving widow who meets her warrior husband in a dream to learn of his final battle. These two complementary plays, led by renowned noh actor Kanji Shimizu of the celebrated Tessen-kai Noh Theater Association, round out the series Stories from the War: Reflecting on WWII through Theater, illustrating that the tragedies of war are timeless and borderless. Performed in Japanese with English subtitles. Tickets: $62/$52 Japan Society members.

This production features members of the Church of St. Francis Xavier Choir, New York.

This production is presented in assistance with Tessen-kai Noh Theater Association.