Festival / Tokyo 2014

Japan's leading performing arts festival, Festival/Tokyo 2014 runs throughout the month of November. An international performing arts event, the programme includes major artists and companies from France, Germany, Japan, Myanmar, China and Korea, taking the theme of 'Border Play'. Festival/Tokyo (F/T) is an international performing arts event where diverse values across nationalities, generations and genre interact with and inspire each other to forge new possibilities. The F/T14 Main Program, in addition to work by virtuoso contemporary theatre artists, also features mid-career creative talents attracting attention now in the fields of theatre, dance, art and music, all helping to make a program of new work true to the collaborative spirit of a festival. Peter Brook makes his much-anticipated debut at F/T with 'The Valley of Astonishment', a kaleidoscopic journey into the mysteries and wonders of the human brain (November 3-6) This year sees the inauguration of the Asia Series, a new program utilizing original research and a range of networks. For its debut season, the series will showcase Korean dawon, the crossover arts that have been developing in Korea since the 2000′s. Alongside F/T14′s new work by emerging artists from China and Myanmar, the series will consider the currents of Asian performing arts today. The Discover Atelier series is a space for learning about F/T14’s performances through talks, screenings, lectures and more. The events will take place during F/T14 and offer ways for audiences to get more out of the festival. Guest speakers and artists are invited to discuss the background and themes behind work appearing in F/T14, and there will also be screenings of past performances by the artists. Entrance is free for all events. Check the Discover Atelier programme for a chance to learn about Peter Brook, to hear about the Korean dawon crossover arts and to meet the award-winning Chinese emerging artist Chong Wang, playwright, theatre director and leader of Théâtre du Rêve Expérimental. Don't speak Japanese? If you are living in or visiting Tokyo and do not speak Japanese, here is an 'Information for Overseas Audiences' guide to performances in the F/T 14 programme which are visual/non-dialogue, are performed in other languages (English, German, Korean, Chinese, Arabic) and provide English language synopsis.