Revivification of life with Hi-Bye’s “Rebirth”

What attracted me to “Rebirth” was not so much death as the repetition of life (Sasaki)

– What is the process like for this “Rebirth”? I can see a lot of Hi-Bye’s elements this time.

Sasaki: Since this is a “rebirth” of “Hi-bye,” I am working on it while remembering and forgetting what I was working on before. I thought that in Mr. Iwai’s mind, the image of stairs remained more than bookshelves, so I explored a form that could have continuity from there.

Fujitani: I try not to change my basic approach. But since I am dealing with people I have never met before, it is a challenge for me to see how much of each person’s charm that I haven’t fully grasped yet I can give shape to just by talking to them. I think I will probably make a lot of changes when I start participating in the rehearsals.

But it’s an amazing casting. I’m amazed that you were able to bring together such a disparate group of people.

Sasaki: That’s what’s so great about you, Mr. Iwai. I thought it was a director who could do this kind of thing. The performers often commented on the clothes Kyon-chan (Fujitani’s nickname) made them wear, saying, “I want to do this kind of movement.

Fujitani: Oh, that’s good. I feel relieved. It’s a relief to be useful, and it makes me feel like I’m doing my job.

– The original story of “Rebirth,” by Junnosuke Tada, tackles social issues of mass suicide in 2003. And that portrays a group of young suicidal people repeatedly three times in the same way, which strongly sticks with the audience. The 2015 edition also had the same theme fundamentally, but the visual image changed a lot.

Sasaki: In our creation, I think everyone forgot about the mass suicide quite early on.

Fujitani: That’s right. I only remembered it now that you mentioned it.

– I didn’t realize that.

Sasaki: What attracted us to “Rebirth” was not so much death, but rather the repetition of life.

Fujitani: When you talk about dying, you end up talking about living. The text for the performance by Yon-chan (Yoko Kitagawa, writer/director of Fai-Fai) was so wonderful that it will go down in the history of Fai-Fai, and it was significant that the text of the announcement read, “A festival of life.”

Dancing with robots.
I think that such an era is just around the corner, and the last hope left for human beings is their bodies, and I think that it is the mind related to the body.
In this age when the stage, theater, and human beings are out of fashion, and when the thrill of gathering in a place and opening one’s brain is out of fashion, I would like to bring together many “strangers” and present a body that pops in the most fundamental way and in the most extreme way.
My virgin theatrical experience is as an imagining of the myth of Dionysus, who was favored by the people and became a god, when I heard of him.
It is a “people’s rumor” that Dionysos lures the weary human women into the forest, releases their lives in a single night of frenzy, and they leave the forest regenerated into robust and fresh human beings.
This, I still believe, is theater.
The simple appeal of “Rebirth” and its staging. It is an invention of Junnosuke Tada, who expresses the fundamentals of theater in a pure way.
He summons Hideto Iwai, a man who wants to move it horizontally like a play and transmit it to the world more widely, a man who is enthusiastically loved by the people, and we Fai-Fai who are almost a group of women and have natural-born groovy bodies and minds dedicate our bodies and release them!
In a beautiful theater like a steep forest (I love KAAT!) (I love KAAT!).
It is a reverse invocation of Dionysus for us women who live on the streets.
To thoroughly expose our lives in this time and age, and to be alive to the point of death.
If we can do that, we will gladly give you 10 years worth of our bodies.
We human beings are always regenerating creatures. I believe that theater, which has lived together with human beings, has the same power!
Thank you very much for your kind attention!

Produced by Yoko Kitagawa

(Adapted from Fai-Fai’s official website)

Sasaki: This piece was a response to Mr. Tada’s “Rebirth” in our generation’s way of perceiving and replying to it.

– Honestly, I wasn’t sure how I felt about the play in 2015. Watching the same thing thrice in a closed space was unpleasant. However, it felt like I needed to see this right now when I saw the trailer. I live in Oita prefecture now, and meeting people and exploring nature, which didn’t exist in my life, somehow links to Rebirth.”

Sasaki: When we finished the opening performance in 2015, Yon-chan, Kyon-chan, and I were talking about “Oh no, this might be a flop” (laughter). But on the first day, when the audience came in, they said, “Well, maybe it was kind of fun. So I can understand why people didn’t find it interesting. On the other hand, I also wonder why I thought it was interesting.

Fujitani: Regeneration” looks emo. In fact, it is emo. But I also feel that it is a surprisingly calm work.

– Repeating the same scene three times is a unique gimmick. How is this play different from 2015?

Sasaki: I have an open impression of this year’s stage design compared to the 2015 version, but that is based on my own reflection. Last time, I made three sides of the stage for the audience, but I think the stage had a very strong frontal feel, and I think that was a mistake. This time, since we are going on a national tour, we were told from the beginning that we would use one side of the stage, which makes me feel even more like “I’m going to do my best! I’m going to do my best!

– I see. From my experience as an audience, I liked the auditorium built steeply surrounding the stage, where each audience could recognize the other.

Fujitani: Nami-chan (Nami Nakayama), the lighting designer, would light up the audience seats at the end. It was as if the performers, who had worked so hard physically and mentally, were urging the audience, “You’re next,” or “You have to do it, too. It was great that the audience could see each other there. So the three sides worked.

Sasaki: It was great! I’m really grateful for all the help from various people.