2024/02/2

“”The Water Station” by OTA Shogo”

The Water Station was first presented in 1981 by the Tenkei Gekijo (Transformation Theater) troupe, led by writer/director OHTA Shogo. It was the first piece of a silent trilogy in which the actors emerge on stage in extreme slow motion and move wordlessly toward a stream of water pouring continuously from a tap. The characters are reminiscent of repatriated soldiers and refugees, depicting vividly among the silence the fundamental human desire for life. The play won high acclaim at home and abroad. This revival was designed and directed by HORI Natsuko, an actress with the Seinendan Theater Company. The silence and measured gait are taken from the original Ohta version, but the water here falls continuously from the ceiling of the Atelier Shunpusha Theater through a hole in the floor into a drain like a single waterfall of several meters in height. Also, the cast is reduced to eight persons. The focus in the latest production is the inexorable passage from life to death, offering a new interpretation of the story that compares past and present (November 2020).
Hori Kikaku is an independent group created by Ms HORI in October 2019, specializing in the themes of death and absence. The Water Station was the group’s second production.

2020
Atelier Shunpusha

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

<Performance Credits>
Written by: OTA shogo
Directed and Conceived by: HORI natsuko
Performers: KONDO tsuyoshi (SEINENDAN), FUJITANI miki (SEINENDAN), KIMURA tomoaki (SEINENDAN), KUROSAWA tao (SEINENDAN), KITAMURA misaki, TAKIZAWA ayane, CHUJO rei
Music by: SASAKI sujin
Lighting Design by OGOMA go
Lighting Programmer : TAKANO tomoyasu
Stage Manager : KAIDU tadashi (SEINENDAN)
Costume/Props/Stage Design : HORI natsuko
promotional desiner : HORI natsuko
Video Shooting/Edit : HORI natsuko
Associate Producer OTA kumiko (SEINENDAN)
Planning and Production : HORI KIKAKU
Organized by HORI KIKAKU 
Supported by OTA mitsuko,TAKANO tatsuya,SEINENDAN

<Promotional Text>
YONEYA Naoko