Available in AR/DE/EN/JP Subtitles

“Goodbye, and good wishes for your success ― a response to Annihilation of Caste ― a speech prepared by Dr. B.R. Ambedkar at the invitation of Jat-Pat Todak Mandal of Lahore in 1936 but NOT DELIVERED owing to the withdrawal of the invitation because the organising committee found the contents of the speech unbearable.”

This theatrical production premiered in December 2022 as the first co-production between Sankar Venkateswaran, a theater director based in Kerala, South India, who is active at home and abroad, and WADA Nagara, a theater director based in Kyoto, Japan.
Although not as well known in Japan as Gandhi, B.R. Ambedkar (1891–1956) was a central figure in the drafting of the Indian Constitution and a leader of the movement to liberate the Dalits (the so-called untouchables). In 1936, he wrote a speech, Annihilation of Caste, that ended up going undelivered. Full of universal thinking and eloquent criticism of discrimination and division, it is an emotionally powerful piece that touches people’s hearts. This production is a re-reading and contemplation of this text, which is still read in India without losing its freshness, from the perspective of the modern world. It expresses the hope that through these words, which serve as a mirror of ourselves, each of us will have an opportunity to renew our sense of who we are and where we stand in society.

“Goodbye, and good wishes for your success ― a response to Annihilation of Caste ―（…）” was produced for Japan Foundation’s International Creations in Performing Arts 2022.
https://www.jpf.go.jp/e/project/culture/perform/creation/2022/index.html

Organized by: Kyoto Performing Arts Center at Kyoto University of the Arts
Co-organized by: The Japan Foundation (https://www.jpf.go.jp/e/)
Co-produced by: Kyoto Performing Arts Center at Kyoto University of the Arts, The Japan Foundation

＜Performance Information＞
Co-direction and composition: Sankar Venkateswaran, WADA Nagara
Performers: Anirudh Nair, Chandra Ninasam, TAKEDA Aki
Dramaturge: MORIYAMA Naoto
Producer: TSURUDOME Satoko, KAWAHARA Miho (Kyoto Performing Arts Center at Kyoto University of the Arts)
Technical Director: OTA Kazushi (Kyoto Performing Arts Center at Kyoto University of the Arts)
Lighting: KASAI Kenichi
Sound design: KODA Toru, TAKIGUCHI Sho
Japanese subtitle / Subtitle Operator: TSURUDOME Satoko
Process observer: SHIBATA Takako
Production manager and Press: FUJII Hiromi (Kyoto Performing Arts Center at Kyoto University of the Arts)
Production assistant: IKAWA Moe (Kyoto Performing Arts Center at Kyoto University of the Arts)
Technical administrator: OHNO Junichiro, OYAMA Harumi, TERASAKA Sunao
Backstage manager: YUKI Toshie
With the special cooperation of YAMADA Setsuko

Source:“Annihilation of Caste” by B.R. Ambedkar, translated by YAMAZAKI Genichi and YOSHIMURA Reiko,1994, Akashi Shoten.
Poblicity cooperation: Kyoto Experiment

Filmed at Kyoto Art Theater Shunjuza on December 10, 2022
Video produced by: The Japan Foundation, Kyoto Performing Arts Center at Kyoto University of the Arts
Filmed by: MORITA Ryo, FUKAYA Yasushige
Edited by：MORITA Ryo

＜Online subtitles＞
Arabic subtitles translation: Erico Communications Inc.
German subtitles translation: Heike Patzschke

End date of distribution: 26/12/2024

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