Four old friends have reunited and are engaged in conversation, ranging from reminiscences of their school days to the present. However, we learn that two of them have died from an accident that happened one summer during high school. The other two, now in their 30’s, depend on their dead friends’ powers to help solve their problems. The latter happily agree to help, but is depending on them really the right answer? The views between the two dead friends, still high schoolers, and the older two sometimes conflict, prompting us to ask what really happened that summer. Relative Ukiyoe is a comical and poignant conversation piece exploring the guilt, cunning, and compassion for old friends through their light-hearted exchanges.

This is the debut run of Relative Ukiyoe in 2004 by playwright/director TSUCHIDA Hideo’s theater company MONO. Tsuchida himself appears as the mysterious talkative man.

About MONO:
MONO was originally launched by TSUCHIDA Hideo and his fellow alumni of Ritsumeikan University’s student theater troupe in 1989 as B-kyu Practice, adopting its current name in 1991. Their work “”Waiting for Chekhov”” won the Award for Excellence of the Agency for Cultural Affairs Art Festival in 2009 and the Award for Excellence in the Osaka Cultural Festival in 2017.

TSUCHIDA has written and directed all MONO’s productions since 1990. His light-hearted conversational plays that show the humor and sadness caused by misunderstandings has received acclaim. He has written numerous screenplays for TV dramas and movies in parallel with his plays, and also works as an actor.

2004
Kitakyushu Performing Arts Center : Small Hall

Presented by: The Japan Foundation (JF) (https://www.jpf.go.jp/e/)
In cooperation with EPAD (https://epad.terrada.co.jp/)

＜Performance Credits＞
Playwright & Direction: TSUCHIDA Hideo
Cast: MIZUNUMA Takeshi, OKUMURA Yasuhiko, OGATA Nobuhisa, KANEGAE Yasuhiro, TSUCHIDA Hideo
Stage Manager: NAGAYASU Kensuke
Set: NISHIDA Hijiri
Lighting: YOSHIMOTO Yukiko
Sound: DOOKA Toshihiro
Production Manager: KAKIWAKI Junko, HONGO Mai, SAITO Yurika
Produced by: Cucumber
Presented by: Cucumber
Supported by: Japan Arts Council

＜Subtitling Credits＞
Chinese Translation (Simplified): Zhenzhen WU
Chinese Translation (Traditional): GuanJie LEE
English Translation: YAMAGATA Mirei
French Translation: Noah HINSCHBERGER
Russian Translation: Inga IBRAKHIM
Spanish Translation: Karla TOLEDO VELARDE

＜Promotional Text＞
YONEYA Naoko