theater

[clay dube]

Those interested in learning about contemporary Japanese theater may be interested in the work of Carol Sorgenfrei. The scholar, director, and film producer has just published Unspeakable Acts: The Avant-Garde Theatre of Terayama Shuji and Postwar Japan. An article about Sorgenfrei and her book is available at:
http://international.ucla.edu/asia/article.asp?parentid=31883

[Anonymous]

The article on Carol Sorganfrei was very interesting and was written in a way that leaves you wanting to read her book. The unexplained "horrors" of her process, the inigmatic descriptions of Terayama and repeated references to the importance of his work without synopses or titles definitely leaves the reader wanting to know more about the book, the man, and his work. I will see if UCLA book store has a copy. While avant garde theater is often difficult for high school students but there's nothing they love more than cult idiosyncracy. So this playwright and his work may prove inspiring.

[Anonymous]

I want to thank Professor Dube for the issue of "Education About Asia". The articles are an excellent resource to suppliment the longer historical passages in text books. I want to focus on the article "Modern Asia through Drama and Theater" and make a couple of comments. The first relates to the comment about understanding people's ideas through theater. Many teachers that I have come into contact with are very enthusiastic about using film , Asian or about Asia, to introduce their students to the cultures and traditions of China, Japan, and Korea. These are, of course, valuable resources and introduce western students to the diverse historical background and cultural traditions very different from their own. But one of the valuable points that the author of the article makes is that "theater is the art form in which human beings engage in human behavior in front of other human beings". Traditional theaterical forms, Kabuki, No, Chinese Opera, like film, tend to be stylized visualizations of human behavior that reveal collective values and agreed upon visions of events and issues. But the modern theater tends to "depict the everyday life of average people...confronting religion, gender, politics and culture". Because it is a less "visual" art form than film and stylized theatrical forms, modern theater forces the audience to look beneath the costume and gesture to the "human" engagement in culture. It creates an immediacy that is dangerous and exciting. By focusing on the "why" as opposed to the "how" of human behavior students must evaluate the pressures exerted on the individual by culture, society, and historical tradition. I think that reading and examining these modern plays will not only provide a classroom activity that students will enjoy, but it will force them to feel the weight of society, family, and tradition on the modern Asian individual. It will also encourage them to look at themselves and the cultural pressures that influence their behavior.

I plan to use some of the library resources to purchase the anthologies listed in the reference section and use them in my classroom to get students thinking and talking about the humans and ideas that make up a society, a history, and a culture.

[Anonymous]

If you ever feel like an opera, I suggest you to go see "Madam Butterfly," once in your life. It's worth a price for a good seat. You will be very much touched and most likely cry. So, if you feel like crying, go see it. But be careful, you may be hooked on opera.

[Anonymous]

The play "Yoduk Story" written by a North Korean refugee, which depicts the deplorable human rights conditions inside one of North Korea's many gulag's, will be performed at the Scottish Rite Auditorium, October 19-22. The play is considered by activists as a cultural nuclear bomb against Kim Jong Il and his regime which has created a living nightmare for most people living behind the 38th parallel. [Edit by="jashworth on Oct 6, 10:30:06 AM"][/Edit]

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