Event | Up the Ladder | |||||||||||||
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Venue | Repertory Theatre Kaze, Tokyo, Japan | |||||||||||||
Umbrella Event | Ancient Future Japan 2003 | |||||||||||||
First Date | 12 November 2003 | |||||||||||||
Last Date | 16 November 2003 | |||||||||||||
Dates Estimated | No | |||||||||||||
Status | Professional | |||||||||||||
World Premiere | No | |||||||||||||
Description | Up the Ladder, a play evoking the blood and sweat, the smell of the sawdust, and the momentary fame of young Aboriginal men in the boxing tents of post-war Australia, will be performed in Tokyo for the first time as part of Ancient Future - Australian Arts Festival Japan 2003. The play will be staged by the Rakutendan Theater Company from November 12-16 at the Repertoire Theater Kaze.
Rakutendan Theater Company has made a name for itself performing, in Japanese, cutting edge and controversial indigenous theatre from around the world. Previous Australian presentations have included Stolen, Seven Stages of Grieving, and Silent Partner. Up the Ladder, written by award winning Aboriginal playwright Roger Bennett, follows an Aboriginal man's journey from the rough and tumble fights of boxing tents of the 1940s and 50s to a career as a professional and champion boxer. The play evokes the carnival atmosphere of boxing tents while subtly reminding us of the racism that underpinned the sport. Roger Bennett overcame a difficult youth to write some of Australia's best regarded indigenous plays including the Australian classic, Funerals and Circuses. As part of Ancient Future - Australian Arts Festival Japan 2003, and the second stage in the exchange between Wesley Enoch (Ilbijerri Theatre Cooperative) and Yoshio Wada (Rakutendan), Indigenous Australian actor/dancer Kirk Page will perform together with the Japanese Rakutendan actors. In addition, a post-performance talk will be held on Satuday 15 November (after the 6:30pm show) to deepen Japanese audiences' appreciation of contemporary Indigenous theatre. Participants include Directors Yoshio Wada, Wesley Enoch, Translator Keiji Sawada, Actor Kirk Page and Melbourne University Academic Peter Eckersall. |
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Description Source | Programme | |||||||||||||
Primary Genre | Theatre - Spoken Word | |||||||||||||
Secondary Genre |
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Produced
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Created |
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Subjects |
Indigenous Australia
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Contributors |
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Text Nationality | Australia | |||||||||||||
Production Nationality | Japan | |||||||||||||
Event Status | Completed | |||||||||||||
Data Source |
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Event Identifier | 118802 | |||||||||||||
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