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

Audiences and performers all in one space meant a lot in 2015’s Rebirth (Sasaki)

– Following the last performance in 2015, actor and playwright Hideto Iwai remained the director for Rebirth, and another two staff members joined. Ayami Sasaki for stage art and Kyoko Fujitani for costume design. How did you two come to participate?

Sasaki: I don’t remember (laughs). But we did talk about evolving the project based on 2015, and to realize what we couldn’t at that time. Like building a waterfall.

– Waterfall!

Sasaki: In the end, we gave up on the waterfall this time and said, “If this happens, let’s do it again in a waterfall deep in the mountains.

– What was the creation process like in 2015?

Sasaki: At that time, we talked about Greek mythology and festivals that people have been doing since ancient times, and we talked intuitively about human activities and how there are many different things, and I think we tried to reach a point where my body was satisfied with what we were doing. I felt that this was the continuity with the concept of “Rebirth” as well. …… I also saw “Interstellar” (directed by Christopher Nolan) around the same time, and I thought that a bookshelf would be a good idea.

– The bookshelf on which Matthew McConaughey communicates with his daughter from a distant universe.

Sasaki: That’s it! That’s it! I think the worldview of Fai-Fai is the same in many cases. It is as if the world, the earth, the universe, history, and everything else is contained in your own little room.

– In that regard, the auditorium was built steeply, surrounding the stage as if the whole space was a room.

Sasaki: There was also the image of the audience and actors coming to drink water from a fountain on the stage as animals, a mix of the two. I also had an image of the Kaaba Temple, the holy place of Islam, as a whole, although I thought no one would get this from the time. So I covered the outside with black cloth. I wonder what the …… sense of togetherness was. I really wanted to emphasize the fact that we all came together.

Fujitani: I just learned about the Kaaba Temple for the first time (laughs). I see! I see. It is true that Fai-Fai’s works have a roomy feel. I remember thinking that it would be nice if the costumes could convey the idea that everyone is a disparate individual and a group of disparate people. I also chose materials that were very concrete and made the movements dramatic. I was conscious of the fact that I could have a sense of physical expansion as I moved.

– Each performer’s costume was different, one dressed like Kenshiro from “Fist of the North Star,” and one dressed like a ballerina. It seemed to have stemmed from performers’ experiences and memories.

Fujitani: Almost, yes. The way of making Fai-Fai is pretty much the same, but it is an individual tracing. I gather what is timely at the time within each person and make it into a work of art. I say, “This is what happens when I take something that comes from an individual and pass it through the filter of “rebirth” and my filter. As for the clothes, there is the individual. That’s why, in this version, I took the time to meet with the dancers, all of whom I had never met before, to hear their stories.

– Is it how you always make costumes?

Fujitani: Almost: Almost always. If I have time to attend a rehearsal, I just observe the dancers. I would check his/her personal clothes, and I would think about how he/she likes to look and behave. I also often ask, “Are you excited (to wear the costume)? I ask them if they are excited (by the costumes).

– Do you hope that your costumes lift performers up?

Fujitani: It’s a must. A must-mission. I have almost no desire to create my own costumes, but to raise the spirits of the people who are a part of the stage space, and their individual feelings, like a covering shot. I don’t mean clogs, but even if it was ready-made clothes, I would choose them for that person. It is important.

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.