akutagawa

projection designer

created by: koryu nishikawa v & tom lee
shadow animation: linda wingerter

premiere: january 2023, chicago international puppet festival

technology: front projection, rear projection, digital animation, recorded shadow puppet scenes

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primarily known in the west through akira kurosawa's film rashōmon, ryunosuke akutagawa was an immensely talented Japanese writer who continued questioning societal norms and people's way of thinking in the modern world. he took his own life at 35 in 1927. 
 

akutagawa, using traditional Japanese puppetry techniques and contemporary american puppetry arts, explores the trajectory of the life and works of ryunosuke akutagawa. it is co-created and performed by koryū nishikawa v, the headmaster of a 160-year puppet company hachioji kuruma ningyo, and tom lee, an american theater and puppet artist with a reputation for performing in war horse on broadway and madama butterfly at the metropolitan opera.