Performance details
How to watch
Presented by
Japan Society
New York, NY
About This Event
Set a few years after the 2011 earthquake and tsunami disaster, this video adaptation of Brooklyn-based theater-maker Aya Ogawa’s play Ludic Proxy follows a woman named Maho, visiting her older sister Maki who lives on the outskirts of the Fukushima nuclear evacuation zone. Maho functions as the audience’s avatar in the story as she cautiously navigates daily life in their hometown post-3.11, which takes on added urgency when Maki reveals that she is pregnant. Using video games as a dramaturgy, viewers are asked to vote, in real time “audience polling,” on how Maho progresses through this harrowing set of circumstances, thus determining outcomes along the way. Featuring original cast members Saori Tsukada as Maho and Yuki Kawahisa as Maki, the line between actual and virtual reality begins to blur once again in this interactive, dark play exploring human survival in the face of disaster. A live Q&A with Aya Ogawa will take place following the performance on March 11.
*Ticketholders will be able to participate at the date and time for which they’ve reserved, as well as any subsequent live presentations in the schedule (March 6, 7, 11). Please note that the same access link sent in the reminder emails on the day before and the day of the reserved presentation date may be used to access any of the later viewings. Given the myriad possibilities of plot outcomes as determined by the live audience polling, ticketholders are invited to return for new viewing experiences as offered by these three distinct presentations.
**All ticketholders will have access to an “on demand” version, available from March 12 through March 26. A link to access this version will be sent out to all ticketholders on March 12, which will incorporate real-time input from the solo viewer as opposed to collective audience polling.
Streamed with English subtitles.
Image: Still from Ludic Proxy: Fukushima, 2021 / courtesy of Japan Society