In the world of Japanese contemporary theater, the Ku Na'uka company is famed for its unique "logos & pathos" method, in which each role on stage is performed by one narrator/speaker (in the "logos" role) and one performer/mover (in the "pathos" role).
As well, since its founding in 1990, Ku Na'uka -- meaning "towards science" in Russian -- has been one of Japan's foremost theatrical exports, touring abroad almost every year -- sometimes more than once in a year -- as far afield as Tibet and South Korea, Morocco, Egypt, Italy, Russia and the United States. From tomorrow, though, Japanese audiences will not have to dig out their passports to enjoy a new version of the company's hallmark production of "Tenshu Monogatari (Story of the Donjon)," the 1917 romantic classic by Kyoka Izumi. It will run for six days on an open-air stage in Shiokaze Park next to Tokyo Bay in Odaiba.
Speaking between rehearsals last week -- barely over jet lag from the latest five-country, two-continent tour -- the founder, director and driving force behind Ku Na'uka, 42-year-old Satoshi Miyagi, took time to talk not so much about his latest production as his distinctive vision of theater.