Pan Asian Repertory Theater's DOJOJI: THE MAN INSIDE THE BELL Begins 5/18

PAN ASIAN REPERTORY THEATRE will continue it's 36th Anniversary Season in tribute to Japan with the world premiere production of Ernest Abuba's DOJOJI: THE MAN INSIDE THE BELL, May 18 - June 9, 2013 at the Clurman Theatre at Theatre Row (410 West 42nd St.). The production is directed by PAN ASIAN REP's Artistic Producing Director, Tisa Chang and choreography is by Sachiyo Ito. The official opening will be on Thursday, May 23, 2013 at 7:30PM.

DOJOJI: The Man Inside the Bell embraces Eternal Love, Destiny and power of Transformation. It is a classic love story, reimagined for a new generation of audiences as a multimedia piece with classic dance, and a new script in English that reflects feudal Japan and the Anime world. The original story dates back to 931AD. During this period Japan was in an era of tumult and re-construction, as well changing forms of Shintoism and Buddhism.

DOJOJI: THE MAN INSIDE THE BELL pays tribute to the Japanese parable about the Dojoji Temple seen in various Noh and Kabuki dance versions, popularized by the iconic transformation of a woman spurned into demon serpent whose wrath leads to devastation. Pan Asian Rep has commissioned a new multimedia script for the next generation to experience this timeless legend.

"We are proud to pay tribute to the arts of Japan with our new version of DOJOJI that will encompass traditional Japanese design, classical dance, and Buddhist rituals as well as fantasy Harajuku styles" said Tisa Chang. "We're also excited to introduce to American audiences Kiyohime and Anchin - two lovers as well known in Japanese traditional theatre, literature and Anime, as Romeo and Juliet are known in the West."

PAN ASIAN REPERTORY THEATRE continues its long association with DOJOJI choreographer Sachiyo Ito, who will also portray the dancing Spirit of Kiyohime.

The cast of DOJOJI: THE MAN INSIDE THE BELL also features Kiyo Takami, Toshiji Takeshima, and John Baray, Don Castro, Dinh Q. Doan, and David Shih.

DOJOJI: THE MAN INSIDE THE BELL includes sets by Kaori Akazawa (RASHOMON, THE JOY LUCK CLUB), lights by Jiyoun Chang (CHING CHONG CHINAMAN, SHANGHAI LIL'S), costumes by Carol Pelletier (SHOGUN MACBETH, THREE TREES), video design by Robin Starbuck and sound design by Kevin Brouder. Production Stage Manager is Elis C. Arroyo, Assistant Stage Manager is Miriam Hyfler.

PAN ASIAN REP's seasonal focus builds on its many stories inspired by Japan (Kobo Abe's The Man Who Turned Into A Stick, Shogun Macbeth, Kunio Shimizu's The Dressing Room to name a few). DOJOJI: THE MAN INSIDE THE BELL is supported, in part, by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Japan Foundation Center for Global Partnership.

Ernest Abuba's (Playwright) plays KWATZ! The Tibetan Project, Eat A Bowl of Tea, An American Story, The Dowager, Empress of China, and his semi-opera Cambodia Agonistes toured national and internationally to the Cairo Experimental Theatre, and Johannesburg, South Africa; produced by PAN ASIAN REP. And, most recently he co-created and performed in Baudelaire: La Mort with Shigeko Suga, also produced by Pan Asian Rep. He is the author of Night Stalker (adaptation of Beowulf), Leir Rex (adaptation of King Lear), and Papa-Boy, produced at La Mama E.T.C. He collaborated with Shigeko Suga and performed Butoh in Spleen (Adaptation of Baudelaire's Flowers of Evil), at HT Chen and Dancer's Mulberry Street Theatre, where he also authored the text for HT Chen & Dancer's modern ballet Lemon Moon. He is a recipient of five New York State Council on the Arts Grants for playwriting and directing, a Rockefeller Foundation Playwright Fellowship, (CAPS) Creative Artist Public Service Playwright Award. He has been a faculty member at Sarah Lawrence College for 17 years. Abuba can be heard as the voice of His Holiness The Dalai Lama on the audio-book The Art of Happiness, Vol. 1. He is a recipient of a 1983 OBIE for his performance in PAN ASIAN's Yellow Fever, by Rick Shiomi.

Sachiyo Ito (Choreographer and Spirit of Kiyohime) Born in Tokyo, Sachiyo Ito has been a professional artist, choreographer, and arts educator for more than 40 years. Choreography credits include: Yeats' Trio, Three Irish Noh Plays in Ireland and New York; And the Soul Shall Dance, Monkey Music, and Shogun Macbeth directed by Ernest Abuba, for PAN ASIAN REPERTORY THEATRE. She was the Kabuki consultant for the Off-Broadway revival of Stephen Sondheim's Pacific Overtures. Extensive performance credits in Japan, the United States, South America, and Europe include: the American Dance Festival; Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center; Dublin Theatre Festival; Japan Society; the Bonn International Dance Workshop; the Riverside Dance Festival; and numerous appearances on television including Channel 4, 11, 13; and at universities. In 1981 she founded Sachiyo Ito and Co., where she creates pieces in a versatile range of dance styles including Kabuki, Noh, Okinawan court, Jiuta-mai, and contemporary dances. She was awarded the name, Sachiyo Fujima from the Fujima School of Japanese classical dance in Tokyo; and received the Foreign Minister's Award from Japanese Foreign Ministry in 2008.

Tisa Chang (Director / Artistic Producing Director) has been a theatre professional for 5 decades as dancer, actress, director and producer and has led PAN ASIAN REP successfully through Institutional campaigns and foundation initiatives since founding. She specializes in directing bilingual premieres: Return of the Phoenix and A Midsummer Night's Dream for Ellen Stewart's La Mama Chinese Theatre Group and at PAN ASIAN REP original musicals: Cambodia Agonistes which toured extensively, Shanghai Lil's (also to San Francisco); and intercultural epics: KWATZ! The Tibetan Project by Ernest Abuba, Rashomon by Fay & Michael Kanin, which was invited to Havana Theatre Festival in 2003, and the masterpiece The Joy Luck Club in fall 2007. Tisa has been a panelist for NEA, NYSCA, New York City's DCA, and the Fulbright Program. She is a member of SDC the national union for stage directors and choreographers, and on the Executive Board of CAATA, the Coalition of Asian American Theatre Artists, of which PAN ASIAN is a founding member. She looks forward to Barnard's Reunion.

Performances of DOJOJO: THE MAN INSIDE THE BELL are Tuesdays - Saturdays at 7:30PM; Sundays at 2:30PM.

Tickets are $50 and can be purchased by calling Telecharge at 212-239-6200 or online at www.telecharge.com. For discounts for groups, seniors and students, call 212-947-8844 or visit. www.broadwayoffers.com. For more information about DOJOJI, PAN ASIAN REP and a schedule of weekday student matinee performances for middle and high school students, visit www.PanAsianRep.org.

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