Terayama Shūji’s diverse creative projects were often interconnected: his films and dramas intertwined to form an eerie and imaginary world filled with dreams of erotic fantasy and escape. He frequently made autobiographical inferences within his surreal films.
Kaleidoscope on Screen will showcase the avant-garde director’s 4 feature films and 2 short experimental short films with live performance to depict Terayama Shūji’s world of wonder.
Screening Schedule
| 23 November 2019 (Sat) | 2pm | Pastoral: To Die in the Country Japan｜1974｜Colour｜104’ |
| 4:45pm | Grass Labyrinth Japan｜1979｜Colour｜50’ Fruits of Passion# Japan, France｜1981｜Colour｜83’ | |
| 8:30pm | Throw Away Your Books, Rally in the Streets Japan｜1971｜Colour｜137’ | |
| 24 November 2019 (Sun) | 7:30pm | Experimental Short Films Laura Japan｜1974｜Colour｜9’ The Trial (without dialogue) Japan｜1975｜Colour｜34’ Live performance: Terayama Henrikku |
Unless otherwise stated, all films are in Japanese with English subtitles. # In Japanese, English and French with English subtitles. All films are limited to persons aged 18 and above only. Post-screening talk after the screening on 24 November.
Speakers. Andrew Chan (Artistic Director of Alice Theatre Laboratory). Kee To (Screenwriter, film critic, founding member of Hong Kong Screenwriters' Guild and Hong Kong Film Critics Society). Nikodem Karolak (InlanDimensions Festival Director / Overseas Manager of Ban'yū Inryoku Laboratory of Theatre Play). Terayama Henrikku (Former Tenjō Sajiki Actor, step-brother and heir of Terayama Shūji's artistic legacy).
Conducted in Cantonese, English and Japanese with Cantonese simultaneous interpretation.
| Date: | 13-14.12.2019 (Fri - Sat) |
| Venue: | Level 2, Foyer of Grand Theatre, Hong Kong Cultural Centre |
Free Admission to ticket holders of Nuhikun (Directions to Servants) 30 minutes before the performance.
DATE: 13.12.2019 (Fri) - 14.12.2019 (Sat)20:15
VENUE: Grand Theatre, Hong Kong Cultural Centre
Nuhikun – Directions to Servants was firstly performed as the public workshop at the Tokyo Harumi International Trade Center and then toured the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, UK, Italy, America and France. This is Terayama’s most representative piece, which has been performed over 100 times in over 30 cities in the world. Furthermore, Ban’yū Inryoku has performed it about 50 times from 1989 to 1991 and from 2003 to 2005 in Japan. The work has been performed in huge theatres such as the Globe in Tokyo in 1989, the playhouse in the New National Theatre in 2003, the Theatre Senju. During overseas tours, Tenjō Sajiki staged the play in various places, adapting the direction to each venue, depending on the circumstances. It has been staged in such venues as an old bakery or a museum hall.
The play’s title is derived from a satirical and humorous essay Directions to Servants by Jonathan Swift. Most of characters in the play are servants, such as slaves, housemaids, farm workers, cooks, or gatekeepers. The story is set in a farm located in an isolated village in Tōhoku region where the is no master, thus the servants decide to play the role of the master in turns. This topsy-turvy charade attempts to question the relationship between authority and control, as well as the position of an actor and the audience. The servants are called after the names of characters that appear in Miyazawa Kenji’s fables. That master-slave farce is described not only by the theatrical dialogue, but also by actors’ moves to the rock-opera vibes. One observes various kinds of machinery props with the empty chair in the middle, symbolizing the absence of the real master until the very end. Figuratively speaking, the absence of the centre stimulates the absence of the periphery.
https://www.lcsd.gov.hk/CE/CulturalService/Programme/en/theatre/programs_861.html
