Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, February 17, 1991 TAG: 9102160063
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-10 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE:
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG LENGTH: Medium
Director Barbara Carlisle says her script, based on an anonymous tale that dates back 1,200 years, has a message for an American culture facing economic recession after a decade of recklessly pursuing wealth.
"A lot of people found out in the '80s what it was like to be richer than anyone ever needs to be," she said. "That's why this play speaks so clearly to us. It teaches us the great cost that greed exacts."
The story is simple. Kokuro, a peasant who lives in the remote Japanese province of Echigo, rescues an injured crane and is rewarded when the bird turns into a beautiful woman and marries him.
The crane wife weaves beautiful tapestries, but at great cost: She must weave from her own feathers. She weaves a tapestry and gives it to Kokuro, with the understanding this great gift will be given only once.
Hard times fall on the village, and Kokuro desperately needs money so his wife weaves a second tapestry.
When a samurai offers a fabulous price for yet another tapestry, Kokuro succumbs to greed and forces his wife to weave it. He is rich. But his wife, wearied by weaving, becomes a crane again and flies away with her flock. Kokuro has lost what mattered most.
Cranes have played a mythological role in Japanese culture for centuries, symbolizing love, immortality and beauty.
The tale of the crane wife, Carlisle said, grew out of the tradition of Ramie loom weaving, a Japanese art practiced for centuries only by virgin girls. Folk tradition held that evil spirits would spoil a Ramie tapestry should anyone enter the weaving room while the girls were at work. The folk tale was a natural development from these traditional beliefs.
"The Crane Wife" draws heavily upon Japanese theatrical conventions. Charlotte Aiken's costumes are based on classic Japanese designs.
Actors will serve both as story narrators and characters. A signer will translate the narrative into sign language. Puppets, including an eight-foot crane, will play crucial parts.
Dances will substitute for props on a virtually bare stage.
"Since I'm a dancer and choreographer, I'm interested in how dance offers ways of telling stories," Carlisle said. "I'm also interested in story theater - the idea that you can present a piece in something other than traditional fashion . . . that you can can have third-person narrative mixed with first-person dialogue."
Carlisle made dance class an integral part of each rehearsal, and taught her actors techniques drawn from traditional Thai and Indian dance and martial arts. She also had her actors study photographs of actual cranes performing their characteristic dance.
Combining these elements, Carlisle created a dance reality that adds up to a theatrical experience quite different from the social realism American theater audiences are accustomed to.
"The idea," Carlisle said, "is to create a world of the play that uses stylized movement, rather than the typical Midwestern or Southern slump-walk actors use in daily life."
Carlisle hopes that by laying bare the theatrical devices she is using, she will empower the audience to use its own creativity.
"I'm very interested in art that inspires other people to make art," she said. "The world of art has, in many ways, gotten far too separated from its audience. I want to say `Look, I did this, and I'm going to show you how to do it. So if you want to do something like it, you can.' "
Carlisle sifted through six versions of the traditional tale before scripting her own version. The longest version required about eight minutes to read. Carlisle made a full evening of theater out of her version by inserting dances and adding characters such as the samurai.
The cast includes Sarah Ripard as the crane wife, Paul Gobble as Kokuro, Van Daly as the neighbor and David Johnson as the samurai. The villagers and crane flock are played by Aimee Bruneau, Katie Grande, Suzen Haller, Katy Hope, Deborah Hunter, Jodi Ivey, Steve Maillet, Bettina McCormick, David Moye, Ellen Reif, Lynn Day Sharp and Lawrna Syner.
Steven Tung composed original music, Beate Czogalla designed the set and Jiang Husheng provided calligraphy for the traditional Japanese screens used in the play.
Performances of "The Crane Wife" will be held at Playhouse 460 on Feb. 21, 22, 23, and on Feb. 28, March 1 and 2. A 2 p.m. matinee will be held Feb. 24. Tickets are $6 for general admission and $4 for children and senior citizens. Call 231-5615 in Blacksburg for information and reservations. 11 10 CRANE Crane
by CNB