This work began with a simple question presented to every Theater Mitu actor: As an actor, what would be the most terrifying role you can think of playing?
What follows is an exploration of artistic fear and impossibility melding elements of Japanese Noh and Butoh with early German cinema theory as Theater Mitu delved deep into the heart of one of the most violent and dark of human crimes. Her tools? Your task becomes to construct a life using the evidence that you can find. At the birth of any political or spiritual movement, a leader arises to guide, fuel and inspire its followers.
But when this leader falls, it is the followers that are left with the shambles of thoughts, ideas, promises and hopesβthey are left to question what has truly been left behind. It examines how fear, memory, hope and faith propel the choosing and following of a leader.
Amidst an impactful visual landscape, athletic staging and live music, Mitu engenders an emotional narrative that brings voices and images of faith-followers from throughout history and holds them accountable for our own future. An exploration of love, darkness and faith, the piece follows a devout believer as she confronts life as it has been, as it should be and as it never will be.
The piece explores notions of will, choice and divine fate. This radical adaptation dissects American musical theater as a form, bringing the classic piece back to its dark prohibition era roots. This piece explores the relevance and impact of the Japanese art form Butoh to the American gaze.
