The 10th annual international performing arts festival, Festival/Tokyo 2017, will run for 51 days from September 30th to November 19th. The first lineup of participating artists has been announced.
As one of Japan's largest arts festivals, this festival showcases the appeal of stage productions from multiple angles and explores new possibilities in the performing arts. A diverse range of projects will be developed, including an international co-production program featuring artists from Japan and abroad, performances that allow viewers to enjoy performing arts in the city, collaborative projects with young artists, and community-participation events.
This year, as part of the "Asia Series," the festival's 10th anniversary, will feature China, celebrating the 45th anniversary of the normalization of diplomatic relations between Japan and China. We will explore the state of contemporary performing arts not only through politics and economics, but also through the lens of China's young "millennial" generation, whose presence is growing in the international arts scene. The first lineup of artists and companies participating in the festival was announced, including Thai choreographer and dancer Pichet Klunchun, Shiba Yukio, head of the theater company Mamagoto, and the Marebito Society, represented by Matsuda Masataka. Pichet Klunchun will collaborate with Japanese artists in a participatory outdoor program that will decorate the streets of Ikebukuro, bringing to light the living image of "Tokyo" as seen through his research stay in Tokyo. Shiba Yukio will express the theme of "distance" through different versions of his work, which will be performed simultaneously, in a collaborative production with the Taipei Performing Arts Center, set in Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre's Theater East and Theater West.
Other events announced include the Marebito Society, represented by playwright Matsuda Masataka, which will perform a play based on his experiences reporting on Fukushima Prefecture; the Urban Performance Series, created by multiple artists who transcend the boundaries of existing theater; the Theater of Experimentation and Dialogue - Theater of New People/Events, which will create a space to question the future of theater; and the F/T Campus, a four-day workshop camp where students interested in cultural policy, art, and theater will learn and interact together.
Detailed program details and additional artists are scheduled to be announced on July 18th.
[Event Information]
"Festival/Tokyo 17"
Venue: Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre, Owl Spot, PARADISE AIR, and others
Address: 1-8-1 Nishi-Ikebukuro, Toshima-ku, Tokyo, and others
Dates: September 30th - November 19th
