Theater
Ayaka Ono & Akira Nakazawa / Spacenotblank
Views

The drama that unfolds on-screen: Is it a film or a play?
Plays and films seldom intersect. Generally, the former is performed live, while the latter is a screening of a pre-recorded video. In this work, Views, the audience witnesses the collision of these two artforms.
This work is created by the up-and-coming collective Spacenotblank and Shuntaro Matsubara, an emerging playwright and winner of the Kishida Prize for Drama. Spacenotblank, which consists of Ayaka Ono and Akira Nakazawa, creates works rooted in the communication that arises from specific environments and relationships, while exploring new ideas and techniques in the performing arts. The two have continuously been working with Matsubara since 2019, and in this, their fourth collaboration, they stage the performance of a play and the screening of a film in real time. Of the eight performers, two play the role of the camera. The remaining six performers act out a drama written by Matsubara, while the audience views the performance through the perspective of a camera in a “movie” projected onto a screen on stage. The dual experience that awaits the audience evokes the feeling of watching a play and film at the same time.
Words, suspense, urgency, playfulness—Matsubara’s play is a collage of various meanings and impressions, while the direction by Ayaka Ono & Akira Nakazawa / Spacenotblank rapidly deconstructs space and body. What will be the upshot of this drama that unfolds on-stage, this reworked relationship between theater and film? This collaboration will lead you to a new state. Lose yourself in it.
10.1 (Sat) 14:30 / 19:00
10.2 (Sun) 14:30 ★♡
Doors open 30min prior to the performance.
★ Post-show talk
♡ Childcare Service
Duration: 90-120 min
Japanese with English surtitles
Advance ticket:
Adult ¥3,000
Youth (25 and under), Students ¥2,500
High School Students & Younger ¥1,000
Pair ¥5,500
Day tickets:
Advance ticket price +¥500.
High school students & younger are the same price as advance tickets.
Seating: Unreserved
Ayaka Ono & Akira Nakazawa / Spacenotblank

Formed in 2012 as a performing arts collective comprising Ayaka Ono and Akira Nakazawa, Spacenotblank’s work explores new values and approaches in the performing arts, developing fresh methods unconstrained by conventional ideas. They create works rooted in the communication that arises from specific environments and relationships and actively collaborate with different artists for each work. In 2017 they won Sengawa Theater Contest. In 2018 they were selected for the Shimokita Wave project, in 2020 for the ROHM Theatre Kyoto + Kyoto Art Center KIPPU Under 35 Creative Support Program and in 2021 the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa Art Exchange Project And21.
Playwright: Shuntaro Matsubara
Created with & Performance by Chika Araki, Yuki Koga, Michiyoshi Suzuka, Risa Tsuruta, Yuka Nara, Ayane Yui
Performance with Live Camera: Sayo Shindo, Akio Hikage
Direction: Ayaka Ono & Akira Nakazawa
Sound Engineer: Shomi Sakurauchi
Light Design: Nami Nakayama
Live Video System: Kotaro Konishi
Scenography: Takuya Kamiike
Stage Management: Hogara Kawai
Rehearsal Director: Shizuka Yamaguchi
Archive: Sakuya Uemura
Production Manager: Luna Hanai
In co-operation with: Purissima, Hakuchumu, I'll be a little quieter, Seinendan, Offton, Ressenchka, Tokyo-Harukani
Produced by Ayaka Ono & Akira Nakazawa / Spacenotblank
Co-produced by Kyoto Experiment
Supported by Japan Arts Council, Komae Ecorma Hall, The Saison Foundation
Presented by Ayaka Ono & Akira Nakazawa / Spacenotblank, Kyoto Experiment