This Thursday, May 5th, 2016 at 7:30 in the Weitz Theater, the Carleton Players will debut “Tales of Rashomon,” an original dramatic adaptation of several of Ryunosuke Akutagawa’s short stories, made famous by Akira Kurosawa’s award-winning 1950 film, “Rashomon.” Performances are Thursday–Sunday May 5–15.
The play is an existential murder mystery set on the outskirts of Kyoto during the twelfth century, a time when earthquakes and fires set the capital into a steep decline. Rashomon, formally a majestic gate to the city, has fallen into ruins and become shelter. One evening, a colorful band of unsavory characters, including a bandit, a samurai, and a wife, has gathered beneath the gate to wait out a rainstorm and begin taking about an unusual criminal trial. A bandit is accused of having murdered a samurai who was passing through a bamboo grove with his wife. Testimony is heard from the bandit, the samurai’s wife and, through a medium, the samurai himself. Because each story is so detailed and credible that it is impossible to tell which one is true, the play questions the very nature of truth and reality.
Carleton students, all from varying Asian and non-Asian cultural backgrounds, have been learning three distinct traditional Japanese performance styles for this production with the guidance of Japanese theater specialist and guest director Kathy Welch. Tales of Rashomon is composed of three different styles of Japanese theater:
- Nōh, major classical drama form that has been performed since the 13th century known for its stoic, dignified tone,
- Kabuki a traditional form of dance-drama known for its stylized and highly dramatic stories filled with samurai, princesses historical characters and spectacle, and
- Bunraku, traditional puppet theater developed in the early 18th-century.
Through these three different styles, performance forms, the Carleton Players will explore the nature of truth, cynicism, horror, beauty and humor in Akutagawa’s stories.
The student ensemble features: • Yoichiro Ashida • Ruiqi Geng • Lauren Goboff • Amanda Yue Jin • Zizi Li • Alice Mei • Patton Small • Mark Steitz • Bard Swallow • Sarah Tan
The artistic staff includes: • Set Design by Sarah Brandner • Costume design by Mary Ann Kelling • Light design by Jeff Bartlett • Puppet and make-up design by Jenn Rathsack