Japan Society Presents UNDERGROUND FAIRY By Satoko Ichihara

Japan Society presents a virtual production of Underground Fairy, by Japanese playwright Satoko Ichihara, translated by Aya Ogawa, and directed by New York-based director Tara Ahmadinejad.

This production is part of Japan Society's annual Play Reading Series: Contemporary Japanese Plays in English Translation, now in its 15th installment, aimed at introducing timely works from leading Japanese playwrights to artists and audiences in the U.S. This online iteration, adapted in response to COVID-19, will be performed live and streamed Wednesday, November 18 at 8PM EST.

Written by award-winning playwright/director Satoko Ichihara, Underground Fairy addresses the timely and topical themes of isolation, inclusivity, and the meaning of "community." The play follows Euriaeria, a half-fairy-half-human living in a fairy community and while the fairies accept Euriaeria, is their inclusiveness genuine if she is still viewed as an outsider? In a series of absurd vignettes, Ichihara questions societal norms and feelings of isolation and segregation. Known for her cross-disciplinary collaborations, New York-based director Tara Ahmadinejad will lead an American cast in creating an innovative online presentation of the play. A post-performance audience Q&A with Ahmadinejad and Ichihara (who will livestream from Tokyo) will follow the online presentation. Tickets for the live premiere are on sale now, and a recording of this program will be available to purchase and view on demand any time from November 18 through December 2.

Tickets & Information:

Wednesday, November 18 at 8PM EST - Followed by an artist Q&A

Tickets are $15 / $12 Japan Society members.

A recording of the program will be available to purchase and view on demand through December 2. Once purchased, ticket buyers may view (and re-view) the program at any time from the premiere through December 2.

Tickets and the recording can be purchased online or by calling the Box Office at 212-715-1258 (M-F 10AM - 6PM).

Ichihara Satoko (Playwright) uses her unique sense of language to write and direct plays that deal with human behavior, the body's physiology, and the unease surrounding these themes. In her work, she clinically depicts themes around sex, mating and breeding from the viewpoint of women. The audience is showered with physically stimulating verbal rampages, while actors execute their lines using their entire bodies-at times portraying caricatures and at other times, relaying intimate confessions. In contemplating Underground Fairy, Ichihara says, "Though the scenes are very randomly presented... [the audience] might start to see the whole thing as the delusion of 'one woman who is a nobody.' As we witness her suppressed desires emerge and run wild, the audience starts to realize their own suppressed desires." In 2011, Satoko received the 11th Aichi Arts Foundation Drama Award for her play Insects. Satoko became a Saison Foundation Junior Fellow Artist in 2018, and most recently in 2020, her play The Bacchae−Holstein Milk Cows was awarded the prestigious 64th Kishida Kunio Drama Award.

Tara Ahmadinejad (Director) is a New York-based director and theater-maker, and co-founding member of live arts collective, Piehole. Recent new play directing includes: Lunch Bunch (Clubbed Thumb's Summerworks, NY Times Critic's Pick) and Chana Porter's Leap and the Net Will Appear (New Georges in NYC; Catastrophic Theater in Houston). With Piehole: Disclaimer, written by Ahmadinejad (The Public's Under the Radar Festival 2020; Emruz 2019), Tread on Me, Tread Softly (audio-theater collaboration with writer Celine Song, in development), and collaborations in augmented reality and virtual reality with the LA-based Tender Claws, Tendar (Sundance 2018) and The Under Presents (Oculus, Sundance 2019). NYTW Usual Suspect; Clubbed Thumb Directing Fellowship; New Georges Affiliated Artist; MFA Columbia University.

Japan Society, located at 333 East 47th Street, is temporarily closed to the public. For more information, call 212-832-1155 or visit https://www.japansociety.org/.

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