murakami fever

story

At once a detective story, an account of a disintegrating marriage, and an excavation of the buried secrets of World War II, The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle is a surreal mystery that follows a quiet, unassuming “everyman”, Toru Okada, as he searches for his wife who’s inexplicably disappeared. Toru soon encounters a cast of strange characters, and while he searches for his wife, the mundane world of Tokyo suburbia grows stranger and stranger.

As the lines between dreams and reality dissolve, Toru must confront the dark forces that exist inside him as part of his human nature. Ultimately, the play makes us question our ability to have relationships and to love, knowing that powerful influences of violence, lust and greed lurk in the deepest corner of ourselves.

scene from the wind up bird chroniclePlaceholder image

haruki murakami

One of Japan’s most renowned writers, Haruki Murakami’s work has been translated into forty-two languages, poising him to become the most widely read Japanese author outside of Japan of all times. Murakami’s many honors include the prestigious Franz Kafka Prize and the Yomiuri Prize, whose previous recipients include Yukio Mishima and Kenzaburo Oe. The Wind Up Bird Chronicle is considered his most important work.

Though Murakami writes about his native Japan, his characters’ desperation to find intimate connections while plagued by urban loneliness are universal. Because of Murakami’s exploding popularity and international interest in his work, as well as the intrigue with Japanese popular culture, this production has tremendous potential for both critical and popular success while offering a universally compelling and original piece of theatre.

haruki murakami