The 2019/20 Provincetown Gallery Guide
THEATER
Tennessee Williams & Yukio Mishima
Tennessee Williams Festival: September 26-29
at various locations throughout Provincetown
Visit www.twptown.org for schedule and tickets
This year’s festival will present plays by Tennessee
Williams and Yukio Mishima, perhaps Japan’s most
provocative author. Born a world apart, Williams and
Mishima became good friends in the late 1950s.
Williams willingly fell under Japanese influence for
over a decade, up until 1970, the year Mishima died.
The 2019 lineup will feature four plays by Williams
alongside four plays by Yukio Mishima, produced
and performed by artists from South Africa, Japan,
New York City, Washington DC, Philadelphia, Texas,
Oregon, Cyprus, Chatham, and beyond.
The festival will also feature parties, post-show
mixers, educational classes, and exclusive donor
events throughout the four-day celebration.
This year’s shows include two world premieres: The
Lady from the Village of Falling Flowers by Williams
(directed by Natsu Onoda Power in the kamishibai
style, with live-action drawing) and the short
comedy Busu by Mishima, performed in back-toback
interpretations by director and choreographer
Daniel Irizarry and Mishima scholar and performer
Laurence Kominz.
Abrahamse and Meyer Productions from Cape
Town, South Africa will stage Tennessee Williams’
The Night of the Iguana in a new production inspired
by Japan’s traditional Noh theater. Directed by
Fred Abrahamse, the production will feature South
African stage star Marcel Meyer and Everett
Quinton, a longtime member of the Ridiculous
Theatrical Company. The festival will also present
the English-language premiere of Yukio Mishima’s The
Lighthouse staged by director Benny Sato Ambush
from a new English translation by Kominz.
The lineup also includes productions of And Tell
Sad Stories of the Death of Queens by Williams, The
Lady Aoi by Mishima, and The Angel in the Alcove by
Williams. The festival culminates in a special Sundayonly
performance of The Black Lizard by Mishima,
starring Yuhua Hamasaki, who appeared on last year’s
RuPaul’s Drag Race.
The festival will also host a new morning workshop
series sharing the craft of Japanese theater arts.
Taught by Elizabeth Dowd, Mark Oshima, Natsu Onoda
Power, and Laurence Kominz, the workshops will
provide an introduction to the techniques of Japanese
Noh (classical drama), kamishibai (storytelling with
drawings), kabuki (popular theater), and kyogen
(traditional farce). The Workshop Pass provides access
to these classes and to a curated set of performances.
Also new for 2019: patrons from New York can now
travel directly to Provincetown for the festival on a
round-trip charter bus. Festival passes, including the
bus fare add-on, are now on sale at twptown.org.
The artwork for the 2019 festival draws from the
psychedelic designs of Tadanori Yokoo, the legendary
Japanese graphic designer and illustrator. Born in
1936, Yokoo is one of Japan’s most successful artists
of the past century. He has graciously given the
festival permission to adapt details of his graphic work
to represent each show.
46 www.provincetowngalleryguide.com
/www.twptown.org
/twptown.org
/www.provincetowngalleryguide.com