Takashima Megumi | KYOTO EXPERIMENT Kyoto International Performing Arts Festival 2025 ④ Jun Tsutsui's 'Staging of the Cemetery'
Jun Tsutsui's 'Staging of the Cemetery' critically questions historical narration through short pieces based on the former Sanadayama Army Cemetery, with performance order determined by lottery.Summary
Jun Tsutsui's 'Staging of the Cemetery' is a work composed of seven short pieces based on research concerning the former Sanadayama Army Cemetery in Osaka, spanning modern Japanese history from the Seinan War to the present. The unique structure involves the audience drawing lots to determine which five of the seven pieces are performed and in what order. In this revival for KYOTO EXPERIMENT, the addition of a new piece ensures that one segment is always omitted, creating an inherent 'absence.' This structure critically examines how historical narratives are mediated by physical archives and how a single, fixed narrative can be dismantled through performance. The sequence of segments creates new circuits of connection between individual perspectives, while unperformed segments suggest latent connections. The audience is positioned not as bystanders but as participants bearing responsibility, confronting the unsaid and the void, transforming the cemetery into a 'vast, living archive composed of signposts pointing in countless directions depending on how one looks.'
(Source：artscape)