Young Directors Project
chelfitsch • Five Days in March

In Japanese with German and English surtitles

Duration of the performance (excl. break): 1,5 hours, 1 break

LEADING TEAM

Toshiki Okada, Text and direction

CAST

Hiromasa Shimonishi, Rukino Yamazaki, Taichi Yamagata, Kohei Matsueda, Riki Takeda and Tomomitsu Adachi, Performers

ABOUT THE PRODUCTION

Minobe wakes up in a hotel next to a woman he doesn't know. They stay for five days. Yasui and Ishihara march in an anti-war demonstration – somewhat halfheartedly, despite their good intentions. And at the cinema box office, Azuma meets the odd character Miffy…
On 21 March 2003, the U.S. armed forces began bombing Iraq. Five Days in March relates the life of young Japanese couples during a period of five days around that date; the actors take turns telling the audience the stories of the characters in the play. By removing the theatrical element, how skilfully actors can act out a role, and by eliminating the artificiality that always exists when someone speaks in lines written beforehand, chelfitsch tries to seriously explore the idea of "present expression”. Five Days in March juxtaposes the grand-scale event of war and the almost insignificant dimensions of daily life, thus giving form to the elusive sense of the present held by young Japanese people.

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