White Light Festival opens on Saturday, October 19 with Sugimoto Bunraku Sonezaki Shinju: The Love Suicides at Sonezaki told through Japanese bunraku puppet theater in a contemporary interpretation directed by renowned artist Hiroshi Sugimoto. Incorporating music by Seiji Tsurusawa, designated by Japan as a Living National Treasure, and video by Tabaimo and Sugimoto, this U.S. production premiere is a bold staging of Chikamatsu Monzaemon’s classic 18th-century drama based upon actual events, and a rare opportunity to experience bunraku in New York City.

Sugimoto Bunraku Sonezaki Shinju: The Love Suicides at Sonezaki
(U.S. production premiere)
Saturday, October 19, 2019 at 7:30 pm                                                                                                 
Sunday, October 20, 2019 at 3:00 pm
Monday, October 21, 2019 at 7:30 pm
Tuesday, October 22, 2019 at 7:30 pm
Rose Theater, Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Frederick P. Rose Hall
 
Original text by Chikamatsu Monzaemon
Hiroshi Sugimoto, artistic director
Seiji Tsurusawa, composer and director
Tomogoro Yamamura, choreography
Tabaimo and Hiroshi Sugimoto, video
Cast: Rodayu Toyotake, Seiji Tsurusawa, Tamasuke Yoshida, and others
Performed in Japanese with English supertitles

Performance length: Two hours and 30 minutes, including intermission

At the turn of 18th-century Japan, a clerk and a courtesan committed suicide in the forest of Tenjin. The Love Suicides at Sonezaki, a tragic play based upon these actual events, was banned after its 1703 premiere for more than two centuries. For this U.S. production premiere, renowned artist Hiroshi Sugimoto presents a bold, contemporary interpretation of the classic drama using bunraku puppet theater with music by Seiji Tsurusawa, who has been designated by Japan as a Living National Treasure, and video by Tabaimo and Sugimoto. The puppets, imbued with life, captivate audiences with their lively movements rivaling the eloquence of actual human beings. 
 
Presented in association with The Japan Foundation and Odawara Art Foundation. Sugimoto Bunraku Sonezaki Shinju: The Love Suicides at Sonezaki is part of Japan 2019, a series of events highlighting Japanese arts and culture in the United States throughout 2019.
 
In cooperation with National Bunraku Theatre, BUNRAKU KYOKAI and Setagaya Arts Foundation/Setagaya Public Theatre.
 
Corporate support is provided by Mitsubishi Corporation (Americas), Mitsui & Co. (U.S.A.), Inc., Sumitomo Corporation of Americas, J.C.C. Fund, Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry of New York, and Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal U.S.A., Inc. Additional support is made possible in part by The Jim Henson Foundation.

Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts 2019 White Light Festival will run October 19 through November 24. For its tenth anniversary season, the multidisciplinary festival will feature events presented in eight venues across the city, including U.S. and New York premieres and the return of festival favorites.

“The resonance of the White Light Festival has only deepened during its first decade, as we have moved into far more challenging times here and around the world,” said Jane Moss, Ehrenkranz Artistic Director of Lincoln Center. “The Festival’s central theme, namely the singular capacity of artistic expression to illuminate what is inside ourselves and connect us to others, is more relevant than ever. This 10th anniversary edition spanning disparate countries, cultures, disciplines, and genres emphasizes that the elevation of the spirit the arts inspires uniquely unites us and expands who we are.”
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