Ghosts, Puppets & so much more...

Japan as a center for cutting edge performance art will once again be showcased in the upcoming Philippines-Japan Festival 2005 with theater pieces that are provcative, sometimes even disturbing.

Japan’s leading underground theater group Shinjyuku Ryozanpaku combines with the percussion group Santa in a spell-binding performance of "The Dressing Room", where the souls of dead actresses who cannot seem to give up the theater haunt a theater dressing room, coming back every day to prepare to go on stage, waiting for cues that will never come. Performances will be held on February 25 and 26 at Sinag Arts Studio in Mandaluyong.

Unusual, innovative use of sets, costumes, lights and the space itself plus vibrant music by the famous and energetic Taiko percussion group Santa make this an unforgettable experience.

Shinjyuku Ryozanpaku was founded by multi-awarded director Kim Sujin in 1987 to establish Angura Engeki or the underground theater of the 1960s as part of Japanese theater culture. Performing throughout Japan and abroad, the company won the Theater Play award in Korea in 1989 and the grand prize at the Art Festival in 1993 held by the National Culture Agency, which resulted in an invitation to perform at the Festival d’Avignon in France the following year, where they performed the landmark "A Cry from City of Virgins" to critical acclaim.

Ryozanpaku, acknowledged as "one of the most dynamic playing groups with creative energy in the contemporary Japanese play circle", is best known for for its "powerful style that leads the audience to the world of the play" and making full use of spaces, whether the theater is a tent, a building or a warehouse.

Founder Kim Sujin directs all the plays of the group, which includes, aside from "City of Virgins", "Solitude in One Thousand Years", "The Legend of Mermaid", "Lovely Medeia", "The Seeing Eye Dog", "A Clan of Night", "Hazama" and "The Dressing Room", the last written by accomplished playwright Shimizu Kunio, whose works are "marked by thematic complexity and lyric intensity".

Many Japanese actresses have played the four challenging roles in the play, with several of them launching their careers with this portrayal. In 1999, Kim directed Columbia University students when the play was staged in New York.

Audiences will be able to interact with the performers in an informal session after each performance.

On March 11 and 12, children and adults alike are in for a real treat as Japan’s foremost puppet theater company Hitomi-za presents "A Story, a Bird Gave Me to Hear", an environment-themed adventure story.

Teacher Nobuko goes to the southern islands to look for her grandfather, who has not returned from fighting a war there. Along the way she meets a mysterious old bird handler who gives her wings and, guided by Shama the magic bird, they go off and find Grandpa living in the woods with the local people.

Unfortunately the trees are cut down one after another, and soon the people, the birds and animals of the forest are threatened and their peaceful way of life disrupted. The Gods of Heaven, of Earth and of the Woods are enraged and send a thunderbolt. Suddenly the forest becomes a huge sheet of fire....

With beautifully painted backdrops and exquisitely crafted puppets, Hitomi-za dramatizes the crucial symbiosis of man and nature. Its first performance at the Akasaka Public Theater drew raves from audiences as diverse as a six-year-old child who thought "it was a very sad story" to an 89-year-old man who said, "I like the idea ‘It’s a dream that anyone can see...’"

Hitomi-za Puppet Theater started in 1948, in the ashes of Japan’s defeat in World War II. Began as an informal drama theater by the young people of Kamakura City, it was reorganized into a professional puppet theater company the following year and began traveling all over the country, performing in elementary schools.

To date the company is divided into five touring groups who perform mostly in schools, but also in public theaters and for various organizations. They develop a particular show for a three-year run, although some shows are extended for a second run. There are usually six shows in the repertoire at any given year. Hitomi-za also organizes workshops for teachers and amateur puppet groups.

"A Story, a Bird Gave Me to Hear" is a collaborative production with Indonesia, and includes gamelan music and elements of the famed Indonesian wayang (shadow) puppets. Since 2003, the Japan government’s Agency for Cultural Affairs has sought to develop cultural exchanges with the ten member countries of the ASEAN, and this is one concrete result of that thrust.

Proceeds from the show will benefit the Mandaluyong Day Care Center of the Mandaluyong city government. The March 12 show will have as special guests children from Mandaluyong.

The two-month (February and March) Philippines-Japan Festival is the 18th being held, and is timed to commemorate the arrival of national hero Jose Rizal in Yokohama in February 1888, where he stayed for two months before proceeding to Europe. This year’s festival theme is "Start of New Partnership" and is being held during the celebration of Philippines-Japan Friendship Year.

An exhibit of contemporary posters by Japan’s leading graphic artists is ongoing until February 26 at the Shangri-La Plaza mall. A film festival focusing on the works on cinema master Akira Kuroswa will be held at the UP Film Institute from February 23 to 28, at the Cultural Center from March 2 to 6, and at the Equitable-PCIBank Tower from March 7 to 11.

The festival will be highlighted by the signing of the Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement, a historic document covering virtually all aspects of human economic activities that, according to new Japanese Ambassador Ryuichiro Yamazaki, "will make our bilateral relations more comprehensive, more interactive and more mutually beneficial".