BAM presents the New York premiere of Ping Chong’s Throne of Blood as part of 2010 Next Wave Festival
Stage adaptation of legendary filmmaker Akira Kurosawa’s masterwork— produced by Oregon Shakespeare Festival—marks centenary of his birth
BAM 2010 Next Wave Festival is part of Diverse Voices at BAM sponsored by Time Warner Inc. Leadership support for the Next Wave Festival provided by The Ford Foundation.
Throne of Blood Oregon Shakespeare Festival Adapted and directed by Ping Chong Based on the film directed by Akira Kurosawa
Set design by Christopher Acebo Costume design by Stefani Mar Original lighting design by Darren McCroom Lighting design supervision by Noah Beauregard and Michael Maag Video and projection design by Maya Ciarrocchi Composer and sound design by Todd Barton
Original Screenplay by Akira Kurosawa, Hideo Oguni, Shinobu Hashimoto, and Ryuzo Kikushima
BAM Howard Gilman Opera House (30 Lafayette Ave) Nov 10–13 at 7:30pm Tickets: $25, 40, 60
Artist Talk with Ping Chong Nov 11 at 6pm BAM Rose Cinemas Tickets: $10 ($5 for Friends of BAM)
Brooklyn, NY/September 30, 2010—On the occasion of the centenary of director Akira Kurosawa’s birth, internationally acclaimed director, playwright, and video installation artist Ping Chong presents his stage adaptation of the legendary filmmaker’s masterwork, Throne of Blood. Following its world premiere this summer as part of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, this striking production receives its New York premiere at the Next Wave Festival. The definitive film adaptation of Shakespeare’s Macbeth, Kurosawa’s Throne of Blood premiered in 1957, setting the action of the timeless story in feudal Japan. Inspired by this cinematic masterpiece, Chong calls upon his interdisciplinary roots to reimagine Kurosawa’s unsparing vision of mankind. In his director’s notes for the production, Chong writes, “Kurosawa chose to distill the play down to its essence, keeping most of the principal characters and plot elements and transposing them—through the prism of the Noh theater—from medieval Scotland to feudal Japan. Noh theater, like Elizabethan drama, is a poetic theater form, but its spare eloquence has a contemporary sensibility similar to my own. What truly inspired me about Throne of Blood was how Kurosawa’s unsparing vision of humankind still resonates in our own deeply troubled age.” The classically trained actors of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival bring the characters to life in a production that combines text, dance, video projections, cinematic sound, and elaborate costumes and scenery evoking both medieval and modern times.
About the artists
Ping Chong has created more than 70 works for the stage which have been commissioned and presented by major venues including the Kennedy Center, Lincoln Center, Seattle Repertory Theatre, London’s Barbican, and the Vienna, Tokyo Arts, and Spoleto Festivals, among others. The BAM Next Wave Festival has hosted three of his interdisciplinary productions: Chinoiserie (1995), The Angels of Swedenborg (1986), and The Games (1984), co-created with Meredith Monk. He has created site and/or media-specific installations for MIT and the Venice Biennale, among others. Many of his play scripts have been published by TCG. Chong was born in New York City’s Chinatown and studied filmmaking and graphic design at the School of Visual Arts and the Pratt Institute before beginning his theatrical career with Meredith Monk’s the House Foundation.
Founded in 1935, the Tony Award-winning Oregon Shakespeare Festival (OSF) is among the oldest and largest professional nonprofit theaters in the nation. Each year OSF presents an eight-and-a-half month season of 11 plays in three theaters plus numerous ancillary activities, and undertakes an extensive theater education program. The Festival presents more than 780 performances annually with attendance of approximately 400,000. More information on OSF can be obtained at osfashland.org.
About BAMcinématek Kurosawa’s Samurai Series
Oct 29—Nov 7, 14 & 21 Coinciding with the performances of Ping Chong’s Throne of Blood, BAMcinématek will present a look at the Japanese master Akira Kurosawa’s period classics, with a particular focus on his samurai films, including the masterpieces Seven Samurai (1954) and Yojimbo (1961), as well as the more recent Ran (1985), another interpretation of Shakespeare (King Lear) set in feudal Japan. “The term ‘giant’ is used too often to describe artists. But in the case of Akira Kurosawa, we have one of the rare instances where the term fits. His films had an awe-inspiring power, physical and graphic. His indelible compositions seemed to have been burned into the screen. He defined a sense of possibility in movies.”—Martin Scorsese FILMS INCLUDE: The Hidden Fortress (1958); Kagemusha (1980); Ran (1985); Rashomon (1950); Sanjuro (1962); Seven Samurai (1954); Throne of Blood (1957); and Yojimbo (1961). Complete schedule at BAM.org/Cinematek.
Credits
BAM 2010 Next Wave Festival is part of Diverse Voices at BAM sponsored by Time Warner Inc. Leadership support for the Next Wave Festival provided by The Ford Foundation.
Major support for theater at BAM is provided by The Shubert Foundation, Inc. and The SHS Foundation.
BAM 2010 Next Wave Festival supporters include: Estate of Richard B. Fisher; Brigitte NYC; The Leona M. & Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust; The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation; The Peter Jay Sharp Foundation; The SHS Foundation; The Shubert Foundation, Inc.; The Skirball Foundation; The Starr Foundation; The Norman & Rosita Winston Foundation, Inc.; Time Warner Inc. and Friends of BAM and BAM Cinema Club. Sovereign Bank is the BAM Marquee sponsor. Yamaha is the official piano for BAM. R/GA is the BAM.org sponsor. New York Marriott at the Brooklyn Bridge is the official hotel for BAM.
Commissioned by Oregon Shakespeare Festival and by BAM for the 2010 Next Wave Festival
General Information
BAM Howard Gilman Opera House, BAM Rose Cinemas, and BAMcafé are located in the Peter Jay Sharp building at 30 Lafayette Avenue (between St Felix Street and Ashland Place) in the Fort Greene neighborhood of Brooklyn. BAM Harvey Theater is located two blocks from the main building at 651 Fulton Street (between Ashland and Rockwell Places). Both locations house Shakespeare & Co. at BAM kiosks. BAM Rose Cinemas is Brooklyn’s only movie house dedicated to first-run independent and foreign film and repertory programming. BAMcafé, operated by Great Performances, is open for dining prior to BAM Howard Gilman Opera House performances. BAMcafé also features an eclectic mix of spoken word and live music for BAMcafé Live on Friday and Saturday nights with a special BAMcafé Live menu available starting at 8pm.
Subway: 2, 3, 4, 5, Q, B to Atlantic Avenue; D, N, R to Pacific Street; G to Fulton Street; C to Lafayette Avenue Train: Long Island Railroad to Flatbush Avenue Bus: B25, B26, B41, B45, B52, B63, B67 all stop within three blocks of BAM Car: Commercial parking lots are located adjacent to BAM
For ticket and BAMbus information, call BAM Ticket Services at 718.636.4100, or visit BAM.org.
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