Scandanavian American Theater Company Announce EMPEROR FUKUSHIMA Reading for 3/11

On Sunday, March 11, as part of the Fukushima anniversary initiative Shinsai: Theaters for Japan, Scandinavian American Theater Company and Ping Chong & Company will co-present a reading of a play written in response to the disaster: Swedish playwright Jacob Hirdwall's Emperor Fukushima. The reading will take place at 7:00 P.M. at La MaMa (47 Great Jones Street). Admission requires a $10 donation at the door; the Japan Playwrights Association will disburse proceeds to the Japanese theater community affected by the disaster.

Written just two weeks after the earthquake, Hirdwall's Emperor Fukushima juxtaposes the story of the wife of a worker at the Fukushima power plant with the story of a Russian tourist and former worker at Chernobyl, who narrowly escaped being killed in that disaster. The play explores issues surrounding nuclear power, also drawing on the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Emperor Fukushima was recently selected as one of the three best Swedish plays of 2011.

At this Shinsai event, Tuomas Hiltunen and actress Dawn Saito, directed by Kristina Golmohammadi, will read a translation by Rochelle Wright. The reading will be accompanied by original music by Fredrik Söderberg.

Last spring, shortly after the earthquake in Japan, actor James Yaegashi, whose family is from a nearby area, called New York theater friends and peers to say, "We as a theatre community have to do something to help our fellow artists on the other side of the world." Six months later, a friendly consortium of over a dozen organizations has come together. And now a remarkable nationwide event, Shinsai: Theaters for Japan, is underway. Shinsai [SHEEN-sigh] means great quake in Japanese.

Jacob Hirdwall (b. 1967) is a Swedish playwright, dramaturge, translator, director, and culture journalist. He has been associated with more than 80 productions for film, radio, television and theatre. He currently lives in Stockholm, where, for ten years, he has worked as dramaturge at The Royal Dramatic Theatre of Sweden. Hirdwall's plays include: The Bedmate (Aarhus Teater, Denmark, 2002); Self-portraits of Unknown Men (Swedish Radio, 2003); Paralysie Gènèrale!, a monologue about Strindberg (The Royal Dramatic Theatre of Sweden, 2004); The Sparrow of Minsk (commissioned by The Royal Dramatic Theatre of Sweden, 2006); The Undiscovered Country (National Theatre in Reykjavik, Iceland, 2007); The Invisible (Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Finland, 2007); The Measure Theory (Stockholm Stadsteater, 2010, also performed in Norway); Emperor Fukushima, The Royal Dramatic Theatre, 2011); and The Gift of Sirimon, which opens in Rosengaard in Malmö, spring 2012. Hirdwall is represented by Nordiska ApS – International Performing Rights Agency.

For more information visit: www.satcnyc.org and www.pingchong.org.

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