Canadian Stage to Feature SPOTLIGHT JAPAN in 2012-13 Season

Canadian Stage today announced a programming change for the upcoming 2012-13 25th anniversary season. The company's second internationally-focused spotlight festival, SPOTLIGHT JAPAN, featuring work from some of Japan's leading contemporary artists, will span one week rather than two.

Presented at the company's intimate Berkeley Street Theatre venue (26 Berkeley Street) from February 26 to March 3, 2013, SPOTLIGHT JAPAN offers Toronto audiences an opportunity to see Contemporary Theatre and dance created by hip-hop dancer Hiroaki Umeda and the Android Robot Theatre. The featured productions will be animated with live entertainment in the lobby.

"It is so exciting to be able to share the work of some of Japan's most innovative artists with Canadian Stage audiences," said Artistic & General Director Matthew Jocelyn. "Due to unforeseen costs that exceed our original budget, presenting the second week of Spotlight Japan became cost-prohibitive for the company. As a result, we will present an impactful one-week experience featuring a double bill of four unique and electrifying pieces from two outstanding artists."

SPOTLIGHT JAPAN will feature Haptic and Holistic Strata, two pieces by digital choreographer/dancer Hiroaki Umeda, a star of Japan's hip-hop scene who combines street dance, soundscape, and video/light effects to create two performances. Alongside the work of Umeda will be two short plays by Oriza Hirata of Android Robot Theatre titled Sayonara and I, Worker. Hirata, one of Japan's leading contemporary playwrights has penned two works that explore the intersection between human and Artificial Intelligence, both featuring human and robot actors. The works previously programmed during the week of March 5 to 9, 2013 (Carlotta Ikeda's Medea and Toshiki Okada's Hot Pepper, Air Conditioner and the Farewell Speech) will not be presented.

SPOTLIGHT JAPAN will be on stage at the Berkeley Street Theatre from February 26 to March 2, 2013, with tickets for these performances (presented as a double bill over one evening) currently available as part of a Canadian Stage subscription package. Single tickets to each individual production will be on sale in early September 2012.