<aside>
— Text by Takayuki Shima
From high above the sky,
a gaze looking down at humanity.
The sky was still one.
— Text by Prajith K Prasad
Behind the exhilaration of flying across the world,
alongside the fatigue in the body,
a question arises:
“Am I a junkie?” “Why do I travel?”
— Text by Vanessa Ogbuehi
“You don’t remember the last time you flew.”
A bird that has forgotten how to fly
builds a nest from collected fragments
and waits for a visitor.
“Are you ready to dance?” you ask.
— Text by Joo Woo Jin
Through the perspectives of fire and bird,
the work traces violence and memory
inscribed in human history.
A voice carrying both questions and anger
remains quietly in the air.
— Text by Takayuki Shima
The heart is touched by the presence of a bird that no longer moves.
And yet, the wind and the sky have not been divided.
A gaze that chooses
to continue witnessing
</aside>
⌜TORI⌟ is an international collaborative performance project produced by Potluck Theater, created in Kanazawa, Japan, with performers from Korea, Japan, India, and the United States. The project was developed through a residency-based process in which the invited artists lived, trained, and created together, sharing their respective theatrical practices.
Rather than aiming to unify different languages and cultural expressions into a single narrative, the work is structured as a coexistence of multiple perspectives. Each performer created a text based on the word “bird,” which was then translated and collectively developed into a theatrical composition. These texts do not converge into a singular storyline, but remain in parallel, forming a layered structure in which differences are maintained rather than resolved.
The performance is presented in multiple languages without subtitles. Instead of prioritizing linguistic comprehension, the work invites the audience to engage with the resonance of voices, the presence of bodies, and the sensory qualities of the shared space. In this context, the performance shifts away from narrative understanding and toward an experiential mode of reception.
The structure of the work resonates with that of Noh theater, in which meaning does not rely solely on verbal communication but emerges through the relationship between body, time, and space. The act of watching becomes less about consuming content and more about inhabiting the same space as the performers, witnessing the presence of human bodies, and participating in a temporality that unfolds collectively. Even the state of “not fully understanding” is embraced as a valid and meaningful theatrical experience.
The performance was staged in a Noh theater in Kanazawa, allowing the participating artists to engage directly with a theatrical space specific to Japan. The residency environment, including shared daily life and cultural exchange, functioned as an integral part of the creative process, shaping both the structure and sensibility of the work.
Through this project, TORI explores the possibility of theater as a temporary community formed through encounter. Rather than seeking coherence or unity, it proposes a space in which differences coexist, and where meaning emerges through the relationships formed between performers, audiences, and the shared environment.
In the past, I constantly moved across the stage, attempting to persuade the audience. However, this approach gradually distanced me from what I consider to be “encounter.” Instead of embodying the contingency and sense of community that theatre holds, it began to collapse into an act of delivering predetermined meaning.
Through this process, I returned to theatre by beginning from “stopping.”
To stop is not simply to cease movement, but to reopen one’s perception of breath, body, and space. Energy centered in the tanden expands through the body, extending into invisible lines that connect with others. In this state, the actor’s body is no longer a tool for conveying meaning, but a medium through which relationships are generated.
This sensibility is deeply connected to the text I created.
In ⌜Fire, Bird⌟, I explored a world where the human and the non-human, beauty and disgust, violence and memory coexist and collide. Images such as “fire,” “pigeon,” “bomb,” and “Prometheus” do not settle into fixed meanings, but continuously clash and transform. Historical events, personal sensations, social violence, and everyday imagery intertwine, forming a state that resists being organized into a singular narrative.
I believe this structure is closer to the essence of theatre.
Theatre is not a device that converges toward a single meaning, but a space where different sensations and modes of existence coexist simultaneously. States of not fully understanding, feelings of discomfort, and unexplainable images are also essential components of theatrical experience.
Through both the workshop and the performance, this conviction became increasingly clear.
The actor’s body is not a means of expressing personal identity, but a medium capable of revealing something non-human, or something not yet articulated. And when that body encounters space and enters into relation with others, theatre emerges as an event.
I define theatre as “a once-in-a-lifetime community formed by chance.”
This community is not built through understanding.
It is formed through sharing the same space, enduring the same time, and experiencing one another’s bodies and sensations.
This work did not offer me a definitive answer to what theatre is, but instead left me with the certainty that the question must continue.
@po10luck_theater(Instagram)
Director / Composition / Design
Takayuki Shima
Performers
Vanessa Ogbuehi (USA)
Joo Woo Jin (Korea)
Prajith K. Prasad (India)
Risako (Japan)
Production
Potluck Theater
Choreography
Ichiro Kato
Venue
Ishikawa Prefectural Noh Theater, Betsu-jo Daisan Butai, Kanazawa, Japan
Support
Ishikawa Cultural Promotion Foundation
Artgalleria Kanazawa
Mikawa City Cultural Foundation