A BELLOO (AUStralia), IDIOT SAVANT THEATER COMPANY (JAPAN) AND GOOD COMPANY ARTS (New zealand) COLLABORATION

AKIRUNO

Image by Daniel Belton, Good Company Arts.

Image by Daniel Belton, Good Company Arts.

A joyful, transcultural collaboration based on traditional Japanese folk tales from the Akiruno region of Japan

AKIRUNO was an international collaboration between Belloo (Australia), IDIOT SAVANT theatre company (Japan) and Good Company Arts (New Zealand). The work is an ecologically-focused, durational site work that draws in part from traditional Japanese folk tales. Originally scheduled to be performed at the Tokyo Tokyo Festival 2020, the work was postponed to 2021 to coincide with the Tokyo Olympics.

Image of Nao Akao performing in the AKIRUNO production in 2021.

Nao Akao performing in the AKIRUNO production, 2021.

Akiruno is the name of a small village, west of Tokyo, in the mountains, where the Blue Herons nest in spring and summer. The all-ages performance, and film, is named after the village and was developed in collaboration with the community, including local actors, working alongside the ensemble of IDIOT SAVANT theatre company and artists from Belloo and Good Company Arts.

It was performed on 2–4 July 2021 at Tokura Shiroyama Terrace, featuring modified digital contributions from Belloo, who were unable to travel for the production.

SAND (Australia, 2018), House in the Dunes (Japan, 2020) and AKIRUNO (Japan, 2021) form a suite of works developed by this creative team. Together, these projects investigate transcultural encounter, the nature of memory and landscape, and explore dramaturgical approaches to ‘weaving’ themes of climate emergency in ways that engage audiences and inspire reflection without being didactic.

This happened a long time ago, before your grandmother was born and her grandmother before that. It was before you could go to the shops and buy milk in bottles and baby food. It was before shops even. — Rabbit in the Moon, AKIRUNO

  • Recommended age: All ages

    Language: Japanese and English

  • AKIRUNO PRODUCTION, 2021

    Director Koh-Toh-Shi
    Creative Director Caroline Dunphy
    Playwright Katherine Lyall-Watson 
    Dramaturg Kathryn Kelly
    Electronic Sound Designer, Motion Graphics＆Mastering Jac Grenfell
    Music Composition, Film Designer＆ Mastering Daniel Belton
    Original Film Projection and Music Good Company Arts
    Literary Translator Shiho Fukuda Koski
    Interpreter Kay Watanabe　
    Stage Manager Hideo Kobayashi   
    Lighting Designer Yusuke Nagao (Lighting Terrace LEPUS)
    Sound Operator Yuki Saitou
    Costume Designer Souichi Torai  
    Percussion, Hollow Stone Flutes, Bone-Shell Flutes and Dulcimer Daniel Belton; Eliahpt
    Moon Lute and Programming Jac Grenfell
    Pūtōrino Musician (Taonga Pūoro) Alistair Fraser
    Drawing Animation Pepa Belton
    Videographer Shaun Charles
    Film Editor Daniel Belton

    CAST

    朱尾尚生Nao Akao　
    近藤康弘Yasuhiro Kondo
    新井千賀子Chikako Arai
    平子亜未Ami Hirako
    玉井沙季Saki Tamai
    澤田鯉太郎Koitaro Sawada
    西尾友夏Yuka Nishio
    堰口無音Muon Sekiguchi
    元山竜徳Ryutoku Motoyama
    大屋優花Yuka Oya
    宮川恵実Emi Miyagawa
    青木泉Izumi Aoki
    西川璃音Rion Nishikawa
    奥村等士Hitoshi Okumura
    立堀貴子Takako Tatebori
    Film Performers | Zachary Boulton; Giema Contini; Caroline Dunphy

    (DIGITAL) SCRIPT DEVELOPMENT, 2020

    Writer Katherine Lyall-Watson
    Creative Director Caroline Dunphy
    Videographer Shaun Charles
    Dramaturg Kathryn Kelly
    Translator Kay Watanabe

    CAST
    Kirk Page
    Alice Marsh
    Zachary Boulton

    DOCUMENTARY

    Documentary concept Caroline Dunphy & Katherine Lyall-Watson
    Filming & Editing Shaun Charles
    Dramaturgical research Dr Kathryn Kelly
    Original music Daniel Belton & Good Company Arts featuring Jac Grenfell, Al Fraser and Eliahpt (Aotearoa NZ)
    Original test film design & projection work Good Company Arts
    AKIRUNO rehearsal footage & interviews Kintaro Iwakura
    Footage from Critical Path’s INFORM #2 thanks to NORPA

  • Japanese Premiere Performance 2, 3 and 4 July 2021 | Tokura Shiroyama Terrace | Akiruno City, Japan

  • AKIRUNO was supported by Arts Council Tokyo, Tokyo Metropolitan Foundation for History and Culture, the Australian Government through the Australia-Japan Foundation of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and Creative New Zealand toi Aotearoa. 

    The (digital) script development 2020 was assisted by the Australian Government through the Australia Council for the Arts, its arts funding and advisory body.

    The documentary was created thanks to support from the Australian Government through the Australia-Japan Foundation of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

(digital) script development, 2020

As Belloo were unable to travel to Japan in June 2020 to rehearse and perform AKIRUNO due to COVID-19, the team instead developed a series of digital storytelling modules with Australian artists. This creative development focused on writing five short-form scripts inspired by Japanese folktales from the Akiruno region and exploring new ways to rehearse and film with artists working across different states and countries.

AKIRUNO DOCUMENTARY

A documentary about the making of an international theatre production — a collaboration between artists from three countries, working together in the midst of a global pandemic.

Belloo (Australia), IDIOT SAVANT theatre company (Japan), and Good Company Arts (New Zealand) began their partnership in 2018. In 2021, they premiered the stage production AKIRUNO. This is the story of how they brought it to life — even when they couldn’t be in the same room.