重力/Earthbound is an award nominated play co-written and devised by CITA/International Centre for Theatre Arts. It was inspired by the collaboration during the 1950`s between Hideo Itokawa and his colleagues to pioneer rocket development in Japan.
The play has two strands of narratives and present strong visual and physical theatre. Part documentary, part fiction, part dream, it interweaves the relationship of the eccentric Itokawa and his team with the story of Robert J Fischer, Americas youngest chess master and Miyoko Watai. Set against the back drop of the cold war, the catalyst for the space race, it attempts to illuminate the beauty of science, and explores the nature of and spirituality of gravity in its physical and metaphorical senses,
Cast includes: Tatsuya Yasumoto, Shoichi Ayada, Bob Werley, Hiroco Carilla, Tanba Tamba, Kana Kobayshi.
Directed by James Sutherland and produced by CITA/International Centre for Theatre Arts.
Past praise for CITA:
“CITA`s specialities are improvisation and adaption”
-Sarah Custen, Tokyo Weekender
“Eclectic, imaginative and full of energy, this is an ensemble world of skillful performers where everything is a prop or puppet. A transformative place.”
-Amit Lahav, Artistic Director Gecko, UK.
“Very beautiful, energy and the quality of movement.”
-Marcello Magni Co-founder Complicite UK.
重力/Earthbound Teaser Trailer
Production Notes
重力/Earthbound, CITA’s newest creation, began with a variety of influences and starting points. It began as early as the summer of 2015 with exploring an exit by a character in a Nikolai Gogol short story. Shortly after, we were involved in a collaboration filming a piece about the theory of everything for the Dome Theatre at Miraikan/The Museum of Emerging Sciences in Japan. There was a clear desire to delve deeper into exploring the sciences inside of the theatrical experience. The body, the body falling, the fall in relationship to gravity and how these complexities transpose theatrically became a strong reference point for this exploration. Furthermore, for us, because of where we are based and where we live, it was also very important to tell a story both rooted in our local culture but that also had universal themes which may resonate with audiences beyond our borders. This has always been a very important driving force behind all of our work. After starting with gravity as our very broad point of departure, we stumbled across whom we affectionately known as ‘Dr Rocket’, Hideo Itokawa. We contacted our friends at the Miraikan, who have been very supportive of this project and they helped us to organize a meeting with Yasunori Matogawa, who worked directly with Itokawa on the first practical rocket experiments here in Kokubunji, Tokyo. This experience really solidified the necessity and motivation to tell this story for us as it can be rare when you are developing theatre work to go directly to your source.
When you come and see a CITA show, you are offered two worlds, the everyday world and the world of the imagination. When children play they pass quite naturally and freely between the two worlds all the time. They can coexist. There is total freedom between the two worlds. The distance of myth, and the closeness of reality. Theatre in all its forms has contained this double element. The theatre is the meeting place between these two worlds. Our aim is to make sure the spirit of these two worlds is supporting and carrying the story of Itokawa and Bobby Fischer and helping us to move from the personal to the poetic.
Conceived and directed by
James Sutherland
Devised by
The Company
Design
James Sutherland
Tatsuya Yasumoto
Lighting
James Sutherland
Sound
Tatsuya Yasumoto
James Sutherland
Translation
Shoichi Ayada, Hiroco Kariya, Kana Kobayashi, Tatsuya Yasumoto
Projection
Tatsuya Yasumoto
Cast
Tatsuya Yasumoto
Bob Werley
Hiroco Kariya
Tanba Tamba
Shoichi Ayada
Kana Kobayashi
Awards
2018
Satohsakichisai Award for Best Director (James Sutherland)