THE SWORDS OF SORROW- BURAI II Opens April 10 At Edgemar Center For The Arts

Women warriors will wield weapons in the climactic scene of The Swords of Sorrow- BURAI II, as obligations of honor and duty are fulfilled with the blades of flashing swords in this action-packed story set in 19th Century feudal Japan.

Takeshige, chamberlain of the Matsugoe clan and master of the Shintou Eigou Style of sword combat, is unjustly sentenced to death after his master Lord Tagami has been captured. Daiji, the local executioner, slays Takeshige and his wife, but with his dying breath, Takeshige swears vengeance from beyond the grave, stating "Even if my body gets rotten, my soul shall live to take your life." Takeshige exacts bloody revenge as his ghost possesses and dominates the bodies of others. The ghost begins to leave a trail of bloody corpses.

Kaede, Takeshige's younger sister, is rendered homeless after her brother's death. She is taken in by Natsu, Daiji's younger sister, who does not immediately know of Kaede's connection to Takeshige. Takeshige's ghost compels Kaede to confront Natsu in mortal combat. The stage is set for an epic sword battle. One of them must die. Whom shall it be?

Naoki Fujiyama is playwright, director and producer. His company Burai Productions was founded with the objectives of sharing Japanese culture and spirit with the world, as well as to provide opportunities for Japanese and Japanese-American performing artists. His previous works for the stage include Japanese Beauty, How to Measure Happiness, and BURAI-Standing All Alone.

Mr. Fujiyama comments: "Welcome to "BURAI II-The Swords of Sorrow-".
You might be wondering what "BURAI" means. Well, there are more than a few meanings like hoodlum, scoundrel, ruffian, tough, villain...and one more, "without relying on others". There are times that people have to make choices, or push themselves
to go on, all alone. In "BURAI", each character faces his or her own destiny
and makes choices. I believe everyone has both a good side and a dark side in their heart,
and when unexpected things happen to people, which way will they be drawn? Now, let us take you to the world of "BURAI"!"

The cast: Hiro Matsunaga, Masa Kanome, Akiko Katagiri, Mai Kobayashi, Toshi Toda, Shiori Ideta, Taishi Tamaki, Shota Kakibata, Chris Yong, Frank Sun and Kyoko Okazaki.

Sword trainer/coordinators: Tadahiro Nakamura, Masa Kanome. Costume design: Sueko Oshimoto (Kimono SK). Hair and make-up supervisor: Akiko Matsumoto. Original music composed by Mali Matsuda. Lighting design: Misa Shimogata, Kayo Tokuue, Organizer: Kyoko Okazaki. Understudy: Yuwi Kim.

In its live presentation, The Swords of Sorrow- BURAI II provides all the things you love about samurai dramas without CGI effects. Anyone who can appreciate a gripping historical family drama will enjoy this show. Martial arts fans may be especially happy to see it.

For tickets and more information visit http://www.edgemarcenter.org.

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