THE鍵KEY
LONDON 2019
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THE鍵KEY from Tête à Tête #2 on Vimeo. |
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THE鍵KEY at Tête a Tête: The Opera Festival 2019
14:00-15:15 & 18:00-19:15, Saturday 3rd August 2019 14:00-15:15 & 18:00-19:15, Sunday 4th August 2019 10 Tollgate Drive, London, SE21 7LS @Kagi_TheKey Produced by The Kagi Project in partnership with Japan Foundation, Mu Arts, Azuki Foundation and Powell Tuck Associates. Supported by Arts Council Tokyo (Tokyo Metropolitan Foundation for History and Culture), Arts Council England, Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation and RVW Trust. In collaboration with Southbank Sinfonia and Whole Hog Theatre. THE鍵KEY is an official event of the Japan-UK Season of Culture |
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‘20 years of marriage yet, I can’t speak with my wife’
But the husband is desperate to discuss their mutually unfulfilling sex life. When he notices his wife paying attention to Kimura, the man they intended to introduce to their daughter, he writes how jealous he feels in his diary and subtly encourages his wife to read it. Thus begins a new marriage; the couple communicate tacitly through their diaries and their daughter and Kimura cooperate to move events along. However, as their actions become riskier, the couple’s new-found fulfilment threatens to be tragically cut short...
Junichiro Tanizaki's novel ‘The Key’ is told entirely through the couple's diaries, cleverly ensuring that the reader engages in the same prying action as the characters. This inspired the staging of THE鍵KEY; the performers are grouped together in separate rooms of a house to represent how the real communication between the characters is never direct. After sell-out Tokyo shows in traditional houses, THE鍵KEY now comes to a modern London home, further exploring themes of intimacy, communication and gender and cultural identity in a new context.
But the husband is desperate to discuss their mutually unfulfilling sex life. When he notices his wife paying attention to Kimura, the man they intended to introduce to their daughter, he writes how jealous he feels in his diary and subtly encourages his wife to read it. Thus begins a new marriage; the couple communicate tacitly through their diaries and their daughter and Kimura cooperate to move events along. However, as their actions become riskier, the couple’s new-found fulfilment threatens to be tragically cut short...
Junichiro Tanizaki's novel ‘The Key’ is told entirely through the couple's diaries, cleverly ensuring that the reader engages in the same prying action as the characters. This inspired the staging of THE鍵KEY; the performers are grouped together in separate rooms of a house to represent how the real communication between the characters is never direct. After sell-out Tokyo shows in traditional houses, THE鍵KEY now comes to a modern London home, further exploring themes of intimacy, communication and gender and cultural identity in a new context.
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Performers The Husband Trio The husband: Hiroshi Amako (tenor) Shakuhachi (Japanese bamboo flute): Clive Bell Double bass: Mark Lipski The Wife Trio The wife: Akane Kudo (soprano) Sho (Japanese mouth organ): Naomi Sato Cello: Idlir Shyti The Daughter Trio The daughter: Akari Mochizuki (mezzo-soprano) Shimedaiko (Japanese percussion): Akinori Fujimoto Violin: Joana Ly Kimura: Shouzo Ayaka (dancer) |
Staff Composer and director: Francesca Le Lohé Dramaturg: Alexandra Rutter (Whole Hog Theatre) Choreographer: Kae Ishimoto Executive producer (UK): Akiko Yanagisawa (Mu arts/Azuki Foundation) Producer (Japan): Naoya Yamashita Production assistants: Fiona Allison and Joanna Pidcock In collaboration with Asia Grzybowska Venue courtesy of Angus Shepherd and his family Review in Schmopera by Alessia Naccarato (English only) |
