{"id":788,"date":"2019-12-19T21:02:34","date_gmt":"2019-12-19T21:02:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/20\/?p=788"},"modified":"2022-02-05T13:25:55","modified_gmt":"2022-02-05T13:25:55","slug":"feigning-ignorance-as-a-way-of-tolerating-the-intolerable-stage-scene-in-japan-2017","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/20\/feigning-ignorance-as-a-way-of-tolerating-the-intolerable-stage-scene-in-japan-2017\/","title":{"rendered":"Feigning Ignorance as a Way of Tolerating the Intolerable: Stage Scene in Japan 2017"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Manabu\nNoda<\/strong>*<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Abstract<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n

The year 2017 saw the nomination of Shinzo Abe into the fourth term of his premiership, which emboldened right wingers in Japan to engage in even more divisive demagoguery and feeble evasiveness. Consequently, liberal camps lost the momentum they believed they had gained after repeated political scandals involving the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), mostly Abe himself. As for the general public, apart from staunch nationalists, the majority of those between 20 and 40 years of age was caught with indifference and apathy, which was most evident from their low election turnout. When dishonesty, demagoguery and dictator appeasement are fast becoming the traits of political cynicism, some Japanese theatre makers\u2014mostly liberal and in their 40s\u2014went soul-searching to contemplate on a few important questions. Is this the result of our own moral indifference\u2014or even cowardice? What is it within us that has permitted this degradation of our democracy? Why have \u201cfake news,\u201d \u201calternative facts\u201d and \u201cpost-truth\u201d become a part of our everyday parlance? My paper will try to show how these artists staged their anxiety about the current, unnerving political scene, in which populist intolerance is combined with indifference, negligence\u2014and even forgetfulness on the part of the younger generations. Their plays may not provide clear resolutions, but they theatricalize the way inhibition is being formed in their psyche.
Keywords: <\/strong>political indifference, populist intolerance, forgetfulness, Ai Nagai, Motoi Miura, theatricalization of inhibition, Japan 2017 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

1.  Introduction<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n

Japan in the year 2017 saw the nomination of Shinzo Abe into the\nfourth term of his premiership. His remaining in power spurred on divisive\ndemagoguery and feeble evasiveness among the politicians of the ruling Liberal\nDemocratic Party (LDP)\u2014a rather familiar sight that we see these days reported from all\nover the world. Liberal camps lost momentum they believed they had gained after\nrepeated political scandals involving the LDP politicians, mostly Abe himself. The\nmajority of voters, and especially those between 20 and 40 years of age, were\ncaught with indifference and apathy, which was most evident from their low\nelection turnout.      <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This paper discusses two plays from the 2017 Japanese theatrical\nscene. They are good examples of the grim political mood that pervaded last\nyear, and the mood is still lingering even now. The first play, The K\u016bki<\/em>, criticised unethical media\ncollusion with powerful decision makers, while the second one, The Japanese, Who Forget<\/em>, tried to\nreveal how the stifled political sensibility can be theatricalized in a more self-reflective\nstyle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. The K\u016bki<\/em>, Nitosha Company<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Artistic director Ai Nagai. Photo: The Japan Foundation. Performing Arts Network<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The story of The K\u016bki<\/em>, written and directed by Ai Nagai, the\nartistic director of Nitosha Company, unfolds at a Japanese TV station. Imamori\n(Tetsuji Tanaka), the executive producer of a popular news programme, is busy\ntrying to stave off the pressure to water down the content of a special coverage.\nThe feature\u2014the result of long-term research\u2014is designed to discuss the recent controversy over broadcasting\nregulations in Japan, comparing it with the state of play in Germany. A few\nhours before it is due to be aired, however, the company board, who has buckled\nunder the pressure from the right-wing administration, demands editing the\ncontent; that is, changing a word in the Japanese overdub of the pre-recorded interview\nwith a German journalist. But then this escalates into modifying the direct\nreference to the notorious Enabling Act of 1933 in Germany, which gave the Nazi\nCabinet the power to enact laws without the involvement of the Lower House\nunder the Weimar Constitution. Consequently, what started out as a \u201cminor\u201d tweak\ngrows into a complete alteration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Imamori, the executive producer, and Kinomiya, the newscaster, are\nrightfully indignant. Then comes \u014ckumo, an ex-newspaper journalist and now the new\nanchor person of the programme. He tries to persuade his infuriated colleagues to\nbe more \u201cstrategic.\u201d \u014ckumo flaunts his media nickname \u201cMr Impartiality,\u201d but it\nsoon turns out that his so-called impartiality is just another word for playing\nnon-adversarial to big-name politicians. While Imamori is desperately trying to\nfight the pressure, Hanada (Hitoe \u014ckubo), the mysterious video-clip editor,\nappears to be getting a kick out of all this. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
The K\u016bki <\/em>(2017) by Ai Nagai. \u014ckumo (Katsumi Kiba, left) and Imamori (Tetsuji Tanaka, right). Photo: Nobuhiko Honda<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Unethical journalism? Yes, definitely. Censorship? No doubt. It is a form of self-imposed censorship that comes from the media\u2019s eagerness to play safe. But the more troubling question is this: Who are they trying to please? If the media is convinced that they have the truth on their side, they should have nothing to fear, even the politicians in power. But, alas, we are now living in the post-truth age, and the media executives are keenly aware that many of their target viewers are now populism prone. And some can be menacing. It is revealed that some newsroom workers in the play have received threatening calls bordering on sheer blackmailing on their private cell phones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even more unnerving is the fact that some Japanese media have\ndeveloped inhibition as a result of this. Inhibition can easily degenerate into\npolitical cynicism and power appeasement. The Japanese keyword in the title of\nthe play, k\u016bki<\/em>, means \u201cair,\u201d but in\nits modern, figurative usage it means something like \u201cthe situation or context\nyou are supposed to read in everyday social transactions.\u201d K\u016bki<\/em> is a discursive force that calls for conformity in family,\nworking place, community and society. Being unable to read the k\u016bki<\/em> implies nonconformity,\nunsociability, being the odd-ball, party pooper or wet blanket in the group. The K\u016bki<\/em> presents a picture of media\njournalists suffocating. The eagerness to feign ignorance as a way of tolerating\nthe intolerable pervades this corrupted and corrupting air.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The executive producer quits the station after an unsuccessful\nsuicide attempt. In the closing scene, he comes back to the TV station to see\nhis ex-colleagues. Kinomiya, the newscaster, has chosen to compromise, and been\npromoted as a result. So has Hanada, the video-clip editor, who is revealed to have\nbeen the mole in the newsroom, being a member of the Nippon Kaigi (Japan\nConference), an ultranationalist association. In fact, Prime Minister Shinzo\nAbe is in reality a special advisor to the association\u2019s parliamentary league. He\nalso finds that Tange, who was Director of the program, has also left the\ncompany and is now working as a courier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The K\u016bki<\/em> has received multiple awards including the \u201cBest Stage in 2017\u201d\nby the critics of IATC Japan. The following year, Nagai followed it up with its\nsequel The K\u016bki ver. 2<\/em>. The play satirizes\nthe kind of journalists who are eager to play in the elite circle of powerful\npoliticians in the hope for an insider tip that may lead to an exclusive story.\nIn the play, we have two big-club journalists who are eager to prep politicians\nwho expect tough questions from journalists at the press conference. The story\nis based on a true story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3.  The Japanese, Who Forget <\/em>(Wasureru Nihonjin), Chiten Company<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Artistic director Motoi Miura. Photo: The Japan Foundation. Performing Arts Network Japan<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The original script of The Japanese, Who Forget<\/em> was written by Shuntar\u014d Matsubara (b. 1988), who said he was inspired by the ethnographer Tsuneichi Miyamoto\u2019s book entitled The Forgotten Japanese<\/em> (Wasurerareta Nihonjin, 1960), and Maurice Blanchot\u2019s text, L\u2019Attente, l\u2019oubli<\/em> (1962), both centring on the notion of oblivion. Motoi Miura, (b. 1973), founder and artistic director of the Chiten Company based in Kyoto, condensed the very long original text into a 90-minute performance. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

On stage is a boat situated at the centre of an area which is cordoned-off\nby ropes. The performers inside the area are all slide-walking sideways as if\nthey were in a pen, sometimes doing the invisible-wall mime routine on the way.\nThose who stray out of the zone suddenly become disoriented and start moving in\na sluggish manner, but they return to their slide-walking routine once back in\nthe cordoned space. Apparently, they are on the borderline between social\ncohesion and anomie, yearning for a sense of belonging but feeling stifled by\nwhat the communality entails at the same time. They seem to want to break down the\ninvisible walls, but when they step across the border, they lapse into total\ndisorientation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
The Japanese, Who Forget <\/em>(2017). Photo: Hisaki Matsumoto<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The structure of the play is dispersal and fragmented. There are hardly any dialogues. The lines are interspersed with the chants of \u201cwasshoi<\/em>,\u201d the unison call often recited in Japan by a parade of people carrying a portable Shinto shrine on their shoulder. In the performance of The Japanese, Who Forget<\/em>, the performers\u2019 lines are delivered in a manner philosophical, desperate, accusatory, mechanical, or monologuish, interspersed with the calls of \u201cwasshoi<\/em>.\u201d This \u201cwasshoi\u201d business in Japan is generally supposed to function as an oral token to reconfirm communality, but, in the play, it sounds more like a hysteric, compulsive cry of desperation. There is nothing festive about them: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dai: Hey, hey, no disaster (wasshoi<\/em>), no war, however big, can escape oblivion forever, can they (wasshoi<\/em>)? We\u2019ve all been forg (wasshoi<\/em>) forgotten already, so what (wasshoi<\/em>)? I see, pardon me, why? why? (My translation, underlines and italics.)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

We forget, because we\nare forgotten, tit for tat. Oblivion in The Forgotten Japanese<\/em> is repetitive. Repetitive oblivion? I\nknow it sounds rather like a contradiction in terms, but their lines suggest\nthat the \u201cwasshoi<\/em>\u201d pressure needs to be renewed every time\nthe repressed memory\u2014or sense of guilt\u2014is about to surface. In the play, oblivion-related\nwords are often combined with the wasshoi<\/em> calls, as if oblivion were made possible only through\ncollective anomie:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yoh: Our motto, \u201cWe shall not repeat\u201d (wasshoi<\/em>), to be replaced within a year by \u201cWe shall not forget.\u201d Once again, \u201cWe shall not repeat\u201d (wasshoi<\/em>), to be replaced within a year by \u201cWe shall not forget.\u201d No mistakes are the same, they\u2019re different every time. Who? Who?

Yuk: Aghh, it\u2019s aghh (wasshoi<\/em>), aghh (wasshoi<\/em>), all I can say is aghh . . . (wasshoi<\/em>). How dreadful (wasshoi<\/em>), and I\u2019d done everything to forget (wasshoi<\/em>), forget. Who? Who?

Sie: Hey, you all! Don\u2019t you feel ashamed to make us remember what we have struggled to forget (wasshoi<\/em>), forget (wasshoi<\/em>)? Why? Why?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Later in the play, they go on board the\nboat, rant like those in the Ship of Fools, and eventually try to lift it like\na portable shrine, inviting the audience to join. We have a brief moment of\nexcitement, but the uplift, both physical and emotional, soon degenerates into\napathy and helplessness, deserting the boat on the edge of the marked area as\nif run ashore and abandoned. Those on stage are back in their initial state,\nleft on the borderline between show time and reality, in an undecided and\nambiguous state, not knowing which way to go, or whether they are still inside\nor outside. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, what are they trying to forget? What\nmakes them crave so desperately for the state of oblivion? The script indicates\ntheir sense of unease. Starting from the kind of unpleasantries that we\nencounter every day, the list extends to Japan\u2019s war responsibility, its\nimperial system and, most specifically, post-Fukushima trauma.\nAfter the 2011 earthquake which caused the tsunami and the nuclear meltdown in\nFukushima, we thought we must change. Now that we had gone past the point of no\nreturn, it seemed obvious that we had to move forward in the spirit of\nsolidarity. However, that didn\u2019t happen, as the crisis was eaten by the familiar agenda of\neconomy and diplomacy. The play seems to suggest that we have decided to forget\nabout the things we felt so keenly back then. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

5.  Conclusion<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n

Nagai\u2019s The K\u016bki <\/em>points at the exterior object of apprehension. The play\u2019s accusatory tone is directed outwards, pointing at the political milieu that is suffocating journalists. Chiten\u2019s The Japanese, Who Forget<\/em>, on the other hand, shows the flipside of these exterior threat. It is more about the act of apprehension itself rather than the object apprehended, showing what it feels like to be an inept political agent in a populism-prone culture. The play is self-reflexive, embodying the symptoms that indicate collective desperation and political forgetfulness that ensues. The Japanese, Who Forget<\/em> seems to suggest that oblivion is just another way of feigning ignorance as a way of tolerating the intolerable. The two plays, told from opposite viewpoints, hinge on the same issue of democracy endangered by populist bigotry. <\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

NOTE<\/strong>: An earlier version of this paper was presented at IATC’s 2018 World Congress conference Performing Arts Today: Freedom and (In)tolerance<\/em>, which took place in St. Petersburg, Russia. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n\"\"
 \n\n\n\n

*<\/a>Manabu Noda<\/strong> is Professor at Meiji University, Tokyo, Japan. As a theatre critic and researcher, he has written on British and Japanese theatre, acting and theatre history. He is currently editor in chief of the Theatre Arts (IATC Japan) and on the editorial board of Critical Stages<\/em> (IATC). His English publications include \u201cImmersion as the Inscription of Theatre-Maker’s Reading: Complicite, The Encounter<\/em>,\u201d in Contemporary Drama and Performative Space: From Playwriting to Immersive Theatre<\/em> (2018); \u201cTrying to Give Shape to an Unending End: Post-3\/11 Theatre in Tokyo,\u201d Critical Stages<\/em> 6 (2012); \u201cFrom Articulation to Synthesis: Stage Passions from the Eighteenth to Early Nineteenth Centuries in England,\u201d in Auff\u00fchrungsdiskurse im 18. Jahrhundert<\/em> (2011); and \u201cThe Body Ill at Ease in Post-War Japanese Theatre,\u201d New Theatre Quarterly<\/em>, vol. 23, no.3 (2007).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Copyright \u00a9<\/strong> 2019 Manabu Noda
Critical Stages\/Sc\u00e8nes critiques<\/em> e-ISSN: 2409-7411<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Creative<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

This work is licensed under the
Creative Commons Attribution International License CC BY-NC-ND 4.0.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":792,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-788","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-conference-papers"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/20\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2019\/12\/image4-6.jpeg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":909,"url":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/20\/counterpublics-cause-so-much-trouble-oliver-frljic-protest-collectivity\/","url_meta":{"origin":788,"position":0},"title":"Counterpublics Cause so Much Trouble: Oliver Frlji\u0107, Protest & Collectivity","author":"Manabu Noda","date":"January 9, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Bryce Lease* Abstract Using Oliver Frlji\u0107\u2019s highly controversial production of Kl\u0105twa\u00a0(The Curse) at Warsaw\u2019s Teatr Powszechny in 2017 as a starting point, this paper addresses the challenges of collectivity in theatre institutions and the forms of political participation they produce, both deliberately and unintentionally. Moving across performance sites (ensemble, protest,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Conference Papers"","block_context":{"text":"Conference Papers","link":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/20\/category\/conference-papers\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.critical-stages.org\/20\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2020\/01\/image10.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.critical-stages.org\/20\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2020\/01\/image10.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.critical-stages.org\/20\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2020\/01\/image10.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.critical-stages.org\/20\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2020\/01\/image10.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":756,"url":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/20\/a-note-from-the-guest-editors\/","url_meta":{"origin":788,"position":1},"title":"A Note from the Guest Editors","author":"Manabu Noda","date":"December 4, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Manabu Noda* and Yun Cheol Kim** The world is ageing\u2212and fast. According to the United Nations, already one in eleven of the world population is over 65, and by 2050 the rate will be one in six. The 65+ age band outnumbered children under five years of age for the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Special Topic"","block_context":{"text":"Special Topic","link":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/20\/category\/special-topic\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.critical-stages.org\/20\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2019\/10\/Manabu_Noda2-140x150.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":174,"url":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/20\/city-narratives-in-european-performances-of-crisis-the-examples-of-athens-and-nicosia\/","url_meta":{"origin":788,"position":2},"title":"City Narratives in European Performances of Crisis: The Examples of Athens and Nicosia","author":"Manabu Noda","date":"October 30, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Avra Sidiropoulou* Abstract This paper discusses the ways in which the physical environment of urban centers in the European South has in the recent years borne witness to the multiple facets of crisis (social-political, financial and cultural) that has defined the second decade of the twenty-first century. In Greece, the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Essays"","block_context":{"text":"Essays","link":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/20\/category\/essays\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.critical-stages.org\/20\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2019\/10\/image5.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.critical-stages.org\/20\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2019\/10\/image5.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.critical-stages.org\/20\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2019\/10\/image5.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.critical-stages.org\/20\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2019\/10\/image5.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":508,"url":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/20\/countering-ageism-and-eugenics-in-theatre\/","url_meta":{"origin":788,"position":3},"title":"Countering Ageism and Eugenics in Theatre","author":"Manabu Noda","date":"December 3, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Akiko Tachiki* Abstract Pressure upon the elderly, that is the \u201cduty-to-die\u201d campaign due to mounting medical expenditures, is rife in ageing countries. Has ageism turned into an offshoot of eugenics, which we thought had been discredited after WWII? The article discusses two 2018 theatre pieces in Japan\u2015the most rapidly ageing\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Special Topic"","block_context":{"text":"Special Topic","link":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/20\/category\/special-topic\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.critical-stages.org\/20\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2019\/12\/image4-1.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.critical-stages.org\/20\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2019\/12\/image4-1.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.critical-stages.org\/20\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2019\/12\/image4-1.jpeg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.critical-stages.org\/20\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2019\/12\/image4-1.jpeg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":517,"url":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/20\/creating-dance-with-elders-and-how-to-see-it-company-of-elders-in-the-festival-of-world\/","url_meta":{"origin":788,"position":4},"title":"Creating Dance with Elders, and How to See It: Company of Elders in the World Gold Theatre Festival","author":"Manabu Noda","date":"December 3, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Katsuhiko Sakaguchi* Abstract The Company of Elders, produced by Sadler\u2019s Wells Theatre (U.K.), was invited by Saitama Arts Theatre (Japan) in 2018 as a model for dance companies which feature elderly performers. The article discusses how the triple bill by the company strived to explore the possibilities of creating dance\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Special Topic"","block_context":{"text":"Special Topic","link":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/20\/category\/special-topic\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.critical-stages.org\/20\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2019\/12\/image3-1.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.critical-stages.org\/20\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2019\/12\/image3-1.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.critical-stages.org\/20\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2019\/12\/image3-1.jpeg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.critical-stages.org\/20\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2019\/12\/image3-1.jpeg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":240,"url":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/20\/seeking-the-other-staging-the-paroxysms-of-orientalism-i\/","url_meta":{"origin":788,"position":5},"title":"Seeking the Other: Staging the Paroxysms of Orientalism","author":"Manabu Noda","date":"October 22, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0Yana Meerzon* Abstract In this hybrid (essay\/interview) article, Yana Meerzon analyzes the production Mahmoud & Niny, directed by Henri Jules Julien and presented at the Avignon Festival, July 14-22, 2019. Developed through a series of conversations and workshops with its major participants, Mahmoud El Haddad and\u00a0Virginie Gabriel, this performance provides\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Essays"","block_context":{"text":"Essays","link":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/20\/category\/essays\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.critical-stages.org\/20\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2019\/10\/image5-7.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.critical-stages.org\/20\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2019\/10\/image5-7.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.critical-stages.org\/20\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2019\/10\/image5-7.jpeg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.critical-stages.org\/20\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2019\/10\/image5-7.jpeg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/20\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/788","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/20\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/20\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/20\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/20\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=788"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/20\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/788\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1181,"href":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/20\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/788\/revisions\/1181"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/20\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/792"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/20\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=788"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/20\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=788"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/20\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=788"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}