※ Q&A Session: 5/12(Sat) 18:00

Opening performance at 2nd Korea-Japan Performing Arts Festival in Osaka
Based on Japan’s prominent Kishida Play Awards winner, <The Memoir of Komachi>is done with a Korean perspective, sharing tradition with a mythical background and historical consciousness. Surreal performances transcend into dreams and strive to reveal nationalistic chauvinism.

Ota Shoko’s unique style of combining ‘silence’ and ‘the art of slowness’ was performed through Lee Yoon Taek’s choreography with wordplay and body movement into the unprecedented masterpiece of <The Memoir of Komachi>.
This was the epitome of the sublime beauty of Asian performing arts with performance taking place between reality and surreal story.
<The Memoir of Komachi> is based on a Japanese folklore with the protagonist, Komachi.
With her head held up high, Komachi was a woman of integrity who only obliged men whom had courted her at least 100 times. She was a legendary woman who stayed single until her last moments after the man of her dreams died in a tragic accident.
This performance tells a story of old Komachi’s memory in a dreamy way. A lieutenant who courted Komachi is a symbolic figure for Japanese nationalism and his spirit represents a violent chauvinistic society trying to suppress Komachi. A chemistry with a neighboring man helps cure a distorted image of chauvinism and nationalism, summarizing the theme of this performance as a whole.
Director Lee Yoon-Taek incorporates Japanese ‘No’ and Korean sentiments into contemporary performing arts, combining Japanese image with Korea’s dynamic choreography as well as Asian folklore.

Synopsis

A boy who defies his father’s violent method of teachings encounters Komachi on the street one day. Old shriveled Komachi and a man entering his twenties share a subconscious chemistry, developing a strong sense of connection transcending generation, time and status. It shows innocent Komachi’s love resisting against contemporary Japan’s nationalism and patriarchal society. On the day of Komachi’s tragic end, a young man falls asleep waiting for her and witnesses Komachi’s resurrection as a beautiful young woman.