Townsman, 1992-01, Page 5Unique play
coming from
Japan
A unique theatre experience will be
on stage at the Blyth Festival in June
when a Japanese theatre company pre-
sents a production in Japanese (with
English surtitles).
The Kurano Group, a theatre from
the northern part of Japan that creates
its own plays, will make only two
stops in North America with its play
Kanashibetsu: at Blyth and at Cafe La
Mama in New York. The Blyth
appearance comes through the
Toyoshi Yoshihara connection.
Yoshihara is a Vancouver business-
man who wanted to improve his
English when he came to Canada so
started to go to theatre. That led to
translating plays. "It was a form of
self -education," he said. "I would take
my favourites and see how well I
could put them in my own language."
One of his favourites was The Tomor-
row Box, by Blyth Festival co-founder
Anne Chislett.
Later, when a university friend
from Japan, a theatre director, won a
grant to study theatre abroad, Yoshi-
hara convinced him to come to Cana-
da instead of New York or London.
Yoshihara began working with his
friend Tak Kaiyama to produce Cana-
dian plays in Japan and so The
Tomorrow Box, a comedy about a
western Ontario farmer who sells his
farm without consulting his normally -
placid wife who rebels and demands a
divorce, found its way to the Japanese
stage. It proved an unlikely hit, with
Japanese women, caught in their own
male -dominated society, empathizing
with the plight of the woman dominat-
ed by her husband. More than 100,000
people have seen The Tomorrow Box
in Japan. Members of the cast have
visited Blyth and last year a tour of
Japanese involved with that theatre
company visited the Festival.
Now comes another theatre compa-
ny, again headed by an old friend of
Yoshihara, to tour its Japanese work
to North America. When the group
wanted to visit some other theatre
centre other than New York, Yoshi-
hara thought about Blyth.
Soh Karamoto, who wrote and
James Roy, (centre) and Toyoshi Yoshihara speak with Japanese visitors.
directs the play, tells the story of a
northem Japanese community that has
depended on a coal mine that now
finds the mine will close.
Blyth Festival Artistic Director
Peter Smith says although the play is
about Japan and will be in Japanese,
there is an echo for Canadians and
particularly rural western Ontario at
this time when there is an erosion of
primary industry and the sense of
community. Also, he says, the play is
enlightening in that we often have the
feeling that Japan is immune from the
kind of economic difficulties we have.
English-speaking audiences will be
able to tell what is going on by read-
ing the dialogue on a screen above the
stage while the cast performs in
Japanese. Reversing his usual role,
Yoshihara has been translating the
Japanese dialogue to English so it can
be shown on the screen. Assisting in
the project has been James Roy, the
co-founder of the Blyth Festival and
Anne Chislett's husband.
The company of 50 will stay in
Blyth and area from June 2-7 and be
billeted in local homes. There will be
performances of the play June 5 and 6
with a student matinee June 5.
The production takes place before
the opening of the regular Blyth Festi-
val season which will include, Smith
recently announced:
The Puff 'n Blow Boys- by Alberta
playwright Val Jenkins brings the tall
tales and poetry of the modern cow-
boy to life.
//ometown Boy- is a new comedy by
Robert Clinton (The Mail Order
Bride) about a couple who operate a
small garage and cafe and are finding
it so hard to make ends meet the man
makes a pact with the devil.
Glorious Twelfth- is a new drama by
Raymond Storey about the effects of
prejudice in a small town in the
1920's.
Yankee Notions- by Anne Chislctt
(Governor General's Award winner
for Quiet in the Land) about the 1837
rebellion.
!'ll Be Back Before Midnight- the first
big international hit play produced at
the Blyth Festival returns as the final
production of the season.
TOWNSMAN/JANUARY-FEBRUARY 1992 3