Steppenwolf Theatre Company presents the world premiere of "after the quake," adapted and directed by ensemble member Frank Galati from the work by Haruki Murakami, featuring Keong Sim, Hanson Tse, Kayla Tucker, Tiffany Fujiwara, Aiko Nakasone and Andrew Pang. The production is being performed in the newly renovated Steppenwolf Upstairs Theatre, 1650 N. Halsted St., and will run until Feb. 19.
In 1995, Haruki Murakami, Japan's most highly regarded novelist, returned to his hometown of Kobe after a disastrous earthquake nearly destroyed the entire city. "after the quake," the collection of short stories inspired by this event, measures the hidden devastation of a people after a natural disaster. Murakami's short stories "super-frog saves tokyo" and "honey pie" comprise the stage adaptation of "after the quake," which features live cello and koto music.
"Murakami is one of the most dazzling and mysterious writers of fiction in our contemporary world. His vision is at once comic and disturbing. His sense of language is clean, precise and deeply poetic," says adapter and director Frank Galati. "When Steppenwolf approached Murakami to adapt the novel, we couldn't have predicted that so many and such vast calamities would unfold before our eyes, here in the aftermath of Katrina, Rita, the Tsunami. 'after the quake' speaks to the loss of life, the shattering grief, the terrible fear of a world unstable politically, and a planet that seems to be sort of shifting, boiling up underneath our feet."
Cellist Jason McDermott's music has been heard in a number of theater productions, including "Alice" (Lookinglass) and "Silk" (Goodman). Jeff Wichman has played the koto for nearly 20 years. He performed at the Lincoln Center, the Kennedy Center and Tokyo's Museum of Contemporary Art.
The designers of "after the quake" are James Schuette (set), James F. Ingalls (lights), Mara Blumenfeld (costumes), with Andre Pluess and Ben Sussman (composition and sound). Malcolm Ewen is the stage manager and Christine Freeburg is the assistant stage manager.
Curtain times are as follows: Tuesday through Sunday at 7:30 p.m., Saturday and Sunday matinees at 3 p.m. There will be Wednesday matinees on Jan. 18 and 25, Feb. 1, 8 and 15, at 2 p.m. There will be no Sunday evening performances Jan. 22 and 29, Feb. 5, 12 and 19. Additionally, there will be no performances on Nov. 24, Dec. 24 and 25, and Jan. 1.
Tickets are $20-60. For tickets, call 312-335-1650 or visit www.steppenwolf.org. Twenty $20 tickets are available at Audience Services beginning at 11 a.m. on the day of the performance.
There will be free post-show discussions offered daily throughout the run.
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